Where Is Home
by Marukaite Chikyuu Doitsu
Summary: Kagome is torn between her fighting friends and decides to leave them for a while to find peace among the world. But while in her retreat, will she find a little love? Holy Roman Empire/Kagome, rated T to be safe.
1. Frustration

MCD: … my first fic! Yay!..?

Disclaimer: There once was a pathetic fangirl, who traveled the world in sandals, but when she got home, she said on the phone: I do not own anything which I use.

Inuyasha/Hetalia

Kagome/Holy Roman Empire (*minifangirlsquealgiggle*)

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

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A book of German to Russian translations flew across the room and Kagome ducked just in time for it to hit the wall where her head had been with a loud thump. She scowled, though on the inside she was freaking out. Big time.

All the nations were fighting, and she meant _all _of them. At least, all of them at the current G8 meeting in France.

Germany was currently throttling France for all he was worth; England and America were bickering, trading the occasional slap; Italy was cowering, holding the broken end of his white flag towards the two as Russia and China cornered him, only to start fighting among themselves (Russia pulled out his pickaxe after he finished with his rusty pipe and China was defending himself with his wok); Even Canada and Japan, the two quietest, shyest nations were fighting lightly, though they didn't seem happy about it (Japan was holding his katanas and Canada was trying to land a hit with maple tree branches, Kumajiro snapping at the oriental country's legs).

Kagome was just about fed up with it, after only a year she had had enough. This was the final straw.

#~~#

_Flashback_

_Kagome could practically feel her eye twitching. Why did she always attract the crazies? First it was demons, now personified figures of nations... she needed some headache relievers..._

"_Do not worry, Kagome-sama." a familiar voice lined thick with a Japanese accent said next to her. Kagome snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at her close friend, Kiku Honda. They had met up in the Feudal Era and after she had completed the Shikon as well, in her era. She had found out almost immediately that he was her country, but she hadn't anticipated meeting **every other** country as well._

"_I know Kiku-chan, it's just that I'm nervous. What are they like? What do they do besides...well, be country-ish?" she said awkwardly. Kiku gave a small smile._

"_Not to worry, Kagome-chan. They are.. interesting, but you rill indefinitely survive. You get used to them. But watch out for England and America when they are within 10 feet of each other.." he mumbled the last part, but Kagome heard it and sweatdropped. _

_Soon they reached the doors to the conference room and truth be told, Kiku was on pins and needles. Kagome, being the beautiful young woman she was, with the plus of a large heart and motherly nature, would surely win the other countries over. But that's what he was scared about. Honestly Kiku was afraid they would take to her **too** well... Kiku felt a little jealous that he had to share her in the first place._

_Kagome opened the double doors and was greeted with an interesting sight. _

_A muscular, blue-eyed blonde man was sitting at the table, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance while an ecstatic brunette talked a hundred miles an hour, waving his hands around excitedly even though his eyes were closed; two blond men were bickering- well, the blue-eyed bespectacled one looked amused while the one with the impressive set of eyebrows (were those fairies above his head?) looked genuinely pissed and were having a one-sided argument; a handsome blond man was quietly sipping wine and eating some sort of french food while an Asian boy with a pony-tail muttered something about "healthy noodles, aru": and finally another poor blonde was being squashed under the white-haired man that was currently sitting on him. The snowy-headed man had a chilling aura... but Kagome wasn't really affected, living with demons for two years had that sort of effect._

_Kiku gave a small polite cough and the French man was first to notice._

_In the next second Kagome's hands were in his and he gave her a dazzling smile as rose petals and a weird pink aura surrounded them both. _

"_Mademoiselle, your beauty is enough to rival even my own! I'm so glad you caught my eye, hon hon hon! I-" he rambled, rubbing circles on her hands with his thumbs. Kagome refrained from blushing. Kouga had done this many times, she was quite used to it._

"_-name is Francis! Come with me, mon cheri and we shall spend the night together-" he continued and Kagome paused him when she spoke. _

"_Pardonnez moi monsieur, but I understand French, so I would appreciate it if you didn't call me "my love" as soon as you met me. Also, I am not currently looking for a relationship and my name is Kagome, not mademoiselle." she deadpanned, pulling away from him. _

_She realized that the room had silenced and all eyes were currently on her. She gulped, blushing lightly and she bowed._

"_Hello, my name is Kagome Higurashi. I am a friend of Kiku's and it is a pleasure to meet all of you.' she said and waited for everyone to speak._

_Japan was quite pleased that his Kagome-chan was not at all fazed by France, who was currently in a state of shock since Kagome was the first woman to reject him..ever! Italy was first to greet her back._

_The excited Italian ran up to her and crushed her in a hug, giving her his own introduction. "Ciao, Kagome! I'm Feliciano, but you can call me Feli! I'm from Italy and I love pasta!" he said with his eyes closed still (Kagome wondered how he could see..) and suddenly he cupped her face in his hands and planted kisses on her cheeks, muttering "Ve~!" the whole time. Kagome blushed pink and gently pushed the man away when he was done. Then there was a rush of introductions... everyone wanted to meet this mysterious girl first (technically fourth)._

_Ludwig was the tall blonde German man, she noted with a blush how handsome he was. ("A pleasure to meet you, Miss Kagome.")_

_The bespectacled blonde American was Alfred, who shook her hand vigorously. ("Hi! I'm the hero, so you can come to me for anything! Hahaha!")_

_The British man with the large eyebrows was Arthur, who had quite literally shoved his way in front of her. ("Hello lass, it's good to meet a friend of Kiku's- wait, fa- you can see them too!" he had said giddily.)_

_The Chinese man with the colorful clothing was Yao. ("I'm Kiku's older brother, aru. I love Hello Kitty, aru!")_

_The tall Russian man with the iron grip was Ivan, from Russia. ("I am Ivan. Become one with Mother Russia, da." he said, which elicited a small laugh from Kagome. "Sorry, like I said I'm not looking for a relationship.")_

_And the final one was Matthew, a shy, quiet Canadian boy that was surprised she could even see him moping in his seat. ("I-I'm M-matthew! Y-you can see me?" he asked shakily and she gave him a confused look. "Of course. You're not a ghost... so why not?" "Matthew, when did you get here?" "I've been here the whole time...")_

_**#~~#**_

_**From that point on, Kagome got along fairly well with the countries, though they did not with eachother. It was starting to irritate and sadden her, and after a while she found she just couldn't take much of it. Random fights between the countries over her made her feel guilty, though Japan had told her frequently that it wasn't her fault. But it it all lead up to the current situation...**_

_**#~^~#**_

Kagome glared at Kiku the next time she caught his eye and he gave her an apologetic, nervous look as he sliced the maple branch in half, leaving a squeaking Canada defenseless.

Kagome was sick and tired of it. If this was what it meant to be with these guys, she would have to leave. In no way did she want to be the one responsible for WWIII. The next thought she had saddened her greatly. It was like having to leave her Feudal Era friends all over again, just different circumstances. But as soon as the next wine glass shattered a few feet away from her feet, the sadness turned into anger. Dammit, she would stop this fighting if it killed her! ...Hopefully that was a worst-case scenario.

She headed a little bit towards the conference table were Germany still had France in a choke hold, though his nose was bleeding now, probably from the flailing the blonde beneath him was doing. She grew frustrated when they didn't separate themselves when she shouted at them, as well as the other groups. It was like she didn't even exist, when her going to a different country had been the reason they were fighting like drunken sailors in the first place. Now she was pissed. Her infamous temper was no good in situations like this.

In response to the fighting she grew more frustrated, more angered until she snapped, forming a bow and a sacred arrow with her miko ki. She pointed it at the ceiling and released it. It created a loud boom, though it did no damage the light was intensely bright and all the nations were frozen. When the light cleared, all the nation's muscles were frozen in awkward fighting positions as Kagome glared at them all with sad and angry sparkling blue eyes.

"What has gotten into all of you!" she hissed, causing them to stop and take a look at what they were doing. They were practically trying to destroy each other... everyone lowered their weapons and dusted themselves off, staring at the miko.

Japan mentally cursed. Though Kagome was close to everyone, they hadn't known about her powers. That was one thing he refused to share with some of the more power-hungry countries such as Russia. And telling one of them meant telling them _all, _and that was a disaster waiting to happen.

However with the stunt she had just pulled, there was no cover up. The black-haired woman in the center of the room continued in righteous anger.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Take a good look at yourselves! You're fighting like mad men!" she scolded. Russia let the bottom of his pickaxe thump on the ground as he glanced at China. Germany quickly got off of France, sitting on his bottom. Italy was cowering from Kagome's anger this now. England and America were paying attention because of the display they just had, both believing in the paranormal and supernatural. Kagome went on.

"You should be ashamed, letting petty anger and jealousy blow up like that! You guys should be more behaved. You're countries for kami's sake!" she said and looked at them with sad eyes. "That's why I can't stay here any longer." she said quietly.

There was a collective gasp as Kagome made her way to the double doors leading out to the lobby. Germany snapped out of his stupor in time to yell to the tiny asian woman across the room and he stumbled to his feet. "Kagome, vhat do you mean you can't stay here any longer?" he asked, a hint of desperation in his voice. He liked Kagome, she was an amazing woman and a great friend...not to mention a teeny tiny crush he had pushed to the back of his mind. She turned to look at him with hidden sadness in her eyes.

"I mean that if I'm going to cause this much fighting, I can't stay here. I don't want to be the cause of such pain." she said. China gaped at her, holding his wok by the handles close to his chest.

"But Kagome-chan, please stay aru! I don't want to lose my little sister, aru." he said and sniffled a little. Kagome gave him a small smile.

"Yao-nii, I'm not leaving forever. I just..I need time to get away. And time for you guys to calm down." she said and grasped the handle of the door. Japan made one desperate attempt.

"But Kagome-chan." he said, and she turned to him. His heart flew into his throat at her undivided attention. "If you are leaving, how long will you be gone? Will you stay home, in Japan?" he asked, mentally scolding himself for not giving her a reason to stay. His statement drew some attention and England piped up, saying she shouldn't have to go, and also not wanting her to leave and a little jealous at Japan's message.

She frowned, looking back and forth between all of them.

"I don't know how long...and home is where the heart is, Kiku. Right now, my heart is scattered across the world... and I need to find somewhere to put it all." she said and finally slipped out the door without another word. After a few minutes all of them snapped out of the trance like state at her announcement and rushed to the bottom floor lobby and outside, only to find she was already gone. Kiku and Germany stared dumbfounded at the street.

"Kagome..."

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

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**MCD: FAIL FIRST CHAPTER. **But I'm working on it. Our friend Holy Rome will come in tha last part of next chapter, then it'll be all him and Kaggy. BTW: I don't know how often I'll be updating, but I'll do it whenever I can. _Sayonara!_


	2. Job

MCD: Hallo! I'm back! *evil laughter* *giggles* I am updating so soon because… I have literally nothing else to do XD

Thank you to Itoma for reviewing, favoriting me (my first! SQUEE) story fave and alerting! jesswolf22 for reviewing and alerting! MasterBakatare-san for alerting! Kage Hasu for reviewing and alerting! Blackstrawberry for alerting! Kakashixangela for favoriting!

And within a couple of hours, no less! I feel special X3

PS: All reviews will be answered in pms :3 nya!

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

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Kagome sighed irritably, crumpling up her map and throwing it in the nearest recycling bin. She didn't care where she was going at this point, as long as she could find her way back. After leaving the airport from France she had mainly just wandered around.

Coming to Austria, land of music as she so happily nick-named it, was confusing to navigate though. She was starting to wish she had gone to some place else, like Greece maybe. She'd always wanted to see the ruins…

Kagome found herself on a dirt road and she shrugged to herself, maybe this was a good sign? After all the Feudal era was all dirt roads, maybe she'd have better luck here than on the busy streets.

After a couple of hours of peaceful scenery and the occasional kind biker or car, the road curved and the trees hid what was beyond. And as soon as she turned the curve, her jaw dropped to the ground.

There was a gigantic mansion sitting right there in the middle of nowhere with a tiny town surrounding it. Seriously, she had seen mansions and villages in the Feudal Era and they were toothpicks compared to this one. The dirt road turned cobbled under her feet and before she knew it, she was walking among the quiet streets, entranced. She stopped by a café to get something to eat and had some sort of pastry. The people were dressed very elegantly and Kagome mildly wondered if these were all incredibly rich people.

Kagome walked a little closer to the mansion after shopping for some new shoes (hey, who was she to object fairly-priced rich people shoes? Besides, hers were worn out from walking.) and was surprised to see there was no security or anything. Maybe there were no such things as assassinations in this tiny hidden village? (No naruto reference!)

She walked under an arch with a bell into the front grounds (that mimicked the one at the front of the town where she entered) of the mansion and looked with awe that only a tourist could. She was surprised though.

The green bushes surrounding the property were unkempt and the windows were a little dirty. The stone outer wall was fading a little in color and the whole place looked like it hadn't been swept in a while, for there were leaves and sand and dirt everywhere (only she could really see how dirty a cobbled stone driveway was, having dealt with the shrine ground duties before). The mansion itself seemed to be a little gloomy, the walls faded in color.

She was starting to wonder if this house was empty when suddenly someone or something collided into her and both of them were knocked down with loud "eep"s. Kagome sat up and looked next to her and was shocked to see a beautiful woman in a green and white maid's outfit laying next to her with… was that a frying pan in her hand?

The lady spoke to her in a rush but Kagome frowned and shook her head, not understanding. The woman looked puzzled for a second until a look of understanding flitted across her face.

"Hello, I'm h- Elizaveta! I'm sorry I bumped into you, I wasn't watching where I was going and I was in a rush-" she started explaining, getting to her feet and helping Kagome up with surprising strength for such a small woman. Kagome smiled and waved her hands dismissively.

"Not to worry, I wasn't really paying attention myself. Oh, I'm Kagome Higurashi. I'm not trespassing on your property, am I?" she asked in embarrassment. She could sense this woman's aura and she was definitely a country, one that started with "H". Elizaveta blinked, then laughed a little. Where did she recognize that name from?

"No, no! You're fine. This place is opened to tourists, though only the front yard. Roderich was annoyed to even allow that, but anyway.." she said, a small awkward tension forming. Kagome nodded.

"This is my first time to Austria, so I got a little lost but I saw this place and it's huge." She smiled, coming up with conversation. Hungary smiled, though it was a little sad.

"Yes, it's a wonderful place. Roderich and I have lived here for years, though it's starting to fall apart.." she said, motioning around to what Kagome had already seen. "My young friend, Feliciano use to take care of this place. He always kept it so clean, using that little push broom. But he got older and he moved away, and now he's living without me." Elizaveta sighed. She missed her little Italy, he was so cute when he wore that little green maid outfit and helped clean with her. And she missed Holy Rome, too, but it was clear he probably wasn't coming back, though she didn't mention that.

Kagome gave her a sympathetic look. She knew how that felt, because Shippo had gone traveling when the Shikon was completed. She was heartbroken when her "son" left, but he had promised to come back when he had become the greatest fox demon ever. She patted Elizaveta's shoulder. She had a pretty good feeling "Feliciano" was Italy, and was further confirmed since she was positive Elizaveta was a country.

"I know how you feel, but you shouldn't worry. You must have raised him well since he's out in the big world. He's probably using the things that you taught him to make it out there." She said and it brightened up the other woman considerably.

Soon they were chatting amiably and Elizaveta invited Kagome in for tea, which she kindly accepted. They came upon a topic that Kagome was interested in.

"Yes, since Feliciano moved away I've had a lot of trouble keeping all the grounds in good condition. I've been looking for workers but this town is small, and the people are too rich and snooty to do actual work." She sniffed angrily.

"Well you and I both are in luck then." Kagome smiled. "I need a job while I'm away from Japan, and I've had a lot of experience cleaning. My family runs a shrine in Tokyo and it's very large, so I have experience with a large area to cover." Elizaveta smiled brightly and clapped in excitement, taking Kagome's hands.

"Really? You'd be willing to help me out?"

"Of course! It would be a benefit to us both. I could afford a hotel room with what you pay me—" the miko said but Elizaveta shook her head.

"No need! The hotels are overpriced and Roderich has plenty of room in the mansion! He doesn't need every room. As a matter of fact, I could probably get you moved into feli's old room." She smiled and everything else went by quickly: introductions to the stiff and brilliant Austrain man, Elizaveta phoning the hotel where Kagome had left her bags to bring them to the mansion, Kagome moving into what she was positive Feliciano's old room, getting that cute green maid outfit and to have a minutely blushing Austria approve…

_**#~~#**_

_**Kagome has been working with Hungary for about two weeks now. She's been paid a pretty amount of money and has been having the time of her life, listening to amazing classical music and hanging out with her friend Elizaveta. She's decided not to ask them about both of them being countries, though she pretty much knew Roderich is Austria (if the name, aura and talent were anything to go by) and Elizaveta is Hungary. Now she is cleaning the front steps of the mansion…**_

_**#~~#**_

Kagome hummed a happy tune. All her worries from the previous G8 meeting had completely malted and she was happier than ever working for Roderich and Elizaveta (Though the pretty pay she was receiving had a little to do with it, too). She twirled in her maid outfit (that she had come to adore).

She giggled at the thought of her two friends. They were romantically impaired, they were. It was obvious that they loved each other to some degree. She was surprised neither had noticed by now.

Kagome finished sweeping the steps and hopped into the courtyard, humming as the sun glowed down on her and the birds started singing. It was quite early, but that made it all the better, since it was so peaceful. She felt like she'd gone to some kind of heaven, and the classical piano coming from Roderich's living room furthered her thoughts. She was so occupied with the fore mentioned and working that she didn't sense the familiar type of aura make it's way through the front arch, nor did she realize it froze there for a moment before rushing up behind her until it was too late.

"Kyaa!" she shouted as someone hugged her from behind, trapping her arms against her sides. Her first thought was that Italy had found her, but when she didn't recognize the person's—strike that, the country's aura, she feared the worst that one of her other Nation friends had sent someone to find her. But that notion was squashed when whoever it was nuzzled her neck from behind affectionately, his or her face warm and she shivered as the person spoke.

"My Italia, I'ma home…" the man said, gender given away by his voice. She said the only thing she could muster at the moment, her oh-so intelligent reply;

"Huh?"

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

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MCD: LOL! Cliffy! You probably hate me right now, but you should know who it is if you've watched Hetalia! And for those who reviewed and said they don,t well, you should either watch Hetalia (Highly recommended, the shows are only 5 minutes long) or you should google "Holy Roman Empire Hetalia" XD

Yay, accomplishment! Two chapters in one day :D I probably won't update this often though, and the chapters might not all be his long, just saying. _Adios!_


	3. Revelation

MCD: Nyaa~~! Vhen I woke up and got on zhe computer zis morning and saw **over 20 **new messages for my story I was thrilled! I'm so glad everyone likes it…*cries waterfall tears of happiness*

Thank you to Montgomery Pedro for favoriting! Pissed Off Irish Chick for reviewing! LightDark19 for favoriting! Jesswolf22 for reviewing! ShiTsukisama for author alerting, reviewing, and story alerting! Kage Hasu for reviewing! JeevasDemyx for favoriting and reviewing! 0rganizedChaos for author alerting! Hiekag for story alerting and favoriting! Chibi Orochi-kun (love the username X3) for story alerting! Junior Einstein for story alerting! Kage Tenshi72 for story alerting! Verner2 for favoriting! Supersweetcutebunny for author fave, story fave, story/author alerting and reviewing! B-mine for story alerting! Moon of the West for story alerting! HentaiVixen for story alerting and fave-ing! C.A.Q. For story alerting! BunnyW.K. For reviewing and fave-ing! Shirahime Jade Silverstone for reviewing and story-alerting! SweetHuniiBunii for reviewing and story alerting! Bakamau for favoriting! WhiteDemoness11 for story alerting! Peggyli76 for story alerting! Mitsuki Hyassi for story alerting and fave-ing! Jesswolf22 for author alerting! Deviously Ruined Rose for reviewing and fave-ing! Youkai Ninja Of The Night for fave-ing! Kiekie290 for fave-ing! Mei15 for author alerting!

HOLY CRAP THAT'SA LOTTA PEOPLE! Thank you so much… *cries wtarefall tears of happiness*

Oh, and I'm making a lot of stupid typos because my computer is on "auto word" or something, so it guesses what I'm going to say and types it sometimes :P

SHITSHITSHIT I posted the wrong doc as this chapter plz forgive me this is the real one!

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

Kagome shivered and blushed when the unknown man spoke against her neck.

"My Italia, I'ma home…"

"Huh?"

Italia? Did he mean Italy? How did he confuse a Japanese woman for an Italian man? Why was he **cuddling **her **neck**?

What the hell!

"W-who are you!" she said rather loudly and Holy Rome blinked and paused in his actions. What? Did Italy not remember him? No, no no!

He froze, arms still trapping the squirming woman and he blushed. She was…urgh, how would he put it? The way she was squirming…was making him… extremely uncomfortable mentally…

Kagome finally managed to get one of her hands out from his grasp and lifted it to her head, pulling off the white handkerchief that was hiding her black hair, which went tumbling down the back of her neck. Surely his guy would realize his mistake?

And oh he did. Holy Rome paled, all real thought leaving him except for one.

_I'm cuddling a freaking stranger!_

Holy Rome jumped away, pushing her forward a little and onto the ground in his retreat. Kagome fell to the ground with a squeak. His hands were high at his sides, trying to claim innocence. His eyes were wide and he was sweating bullets. Who was this! His Italy didn't have black hair!

"Who ara you, imposter!" he shouted at the tiny Asian woman on the ground.

Kagome instantly bristled because 1) he didn't apologize for grabbing he out of nowhere and saying she was a _man _2) for pushing her to the ground and not apologizing and 3) for calling her an imposter when he was a complete stranger himself. Ooh, this guy had some nerve!

Kagome twisted over onto her but, her maid outfit tangling around her feet in the process, and glared at him—

But for a second her look faltered. He looked exactly like Germany… the guilt for leaving him and her other friends at the G8 summit came crashing down on her again. But he wasn't Germany, Ludwig was much taller and his composure was stiff while this guy seemed freaked out but lax. How did that work?

However Kagome got over herself and glared at the guy again.

"Who are you to claim me an imposter when I don't even know who you are, you **jerk!**" she yelled, her infamous temper getting the better of her. "Here I am doing my job and all of a sudden you come up and glomp me from behind, calling me a guy! THEN you push me to the ground and demand things of me! Who are you to do stuff to me and get away with it!" Holy Rome just got angry.

"Howa dare you call my little Italia a **man!** You're the one who isa wearing Italy's clothes and doing her job! And **I **am the Holy Roman Empire, little miss! Now, tella me what you've done to my little Italy!" he said, drawing his sword from under his cloak. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Pffft! You think pointing your little metal sword at me is gonna make me tell you were Italy is? Well sorry to disappoint but I'm not afraid! And Italy **is. A. Man!**" she said, trying to stand. She pushed her self off of the ground and got to her feet but forgot the maid's dress was tangled around her feet...

...and fell on Holy Rome, who let out a little yelp and fell over, onto his back. Kagome huffed, pushing her bangs out of her face.

"W-what ara you doing-"

"Listen mister Holy Rome! I didn't mean for that to happen! The stupid dress is tangled around my feet from when **you **pushed me over-"

"You're right, you really **aren't **Italy. She can walk in a dress." Holy Rome said, trying to squirm out from under this weird chick. He moved his sword a little and it poked Kagome.

"Hey! Watch where you're moving that thing-"

"KAGOME!" Kagome wanted to choke, or die, or maybe just dissipate into sand. She looked over her shoulder. Oh god, it was Elizaveta.

Hungary stared at the young worker with wide eyes. She was on top of some guy in the middle of the courtyard...and... what the hell was she talking about! Hungary felt herself going pale. Kagome wasn't some sort of rapist, was she? Or was that her friend... or what...

…. oh kami...

Kagome groaned in frustration, dropping her forehead onto Holy Rome's chest. _'ouch... what, is this guy made of rocks?' _Kagome moved a little and Holy Rome pushed her the rest of the way off of him, his face red. God, he'd seen that... erm, _pose _before... that Kagome had unknowingly put them in... and now his face was burning up.

Hungary was about to say an apology to the stranger but froze. He... he...

"H-holy Rome?" she said, her eyes tearing up. She completely ignored a huffing Kagome for the time being.

"You know this guy?" Kagome said, fixing the bottom of her outfit so that she wouldn't fall on her face when she got up.

Holy Rome recognized Hungary immediately and smiled. "I'ma home, Hungary-" was all he said before Hungary squashed him in a hug. She was kneeling next to him, her arms around his neck and he chuckled, hugging her back.

Kagome sighed, standing up. "I'll take that as a yes." She watched them for a time, until Austria walked out and joined the two on the ground. Obviously, he wasn't as dramatic as Hungary, but he kneeled next to Holy Rome and hugged him too. What, was everybody happy to see this guy except Kagome? Said miko was getting her push broom from the ground a couple feet away. She looked at them, a little bit jealous.

The little family reunion was seriously depressing, it reminded her of the past. Of the Feudal Era. Of Shippo, of Sango, Miroku, Kirara...

...Inuyasha...

And even of the G8 summit. She'd left all of her friends, and now she probably wasn't going to go back as soon as she planned. She looked at the ground sadly, starting to go on with her work, sighing. Man was she bipolar or what? Pissed off one minute, melancholy the next.

**#~~#**

_**After that, Kagome was formally introduced to the Holy Roman Empire. She was also told (or it was confirmed) that Elizaveta and Roderich were Hungary and Austria, though she told them that she pretty much knew anyway. In return, she told them of her connections to the other countries, although no further than that. It's been a couple of hours and Kagome is still trying to convince Holy Rome that Italy's actually a guy...**_

_**#~~#**_

"I'm telling you, Italy is a guy! Go ask, Hungary and Austria will both tell you the same thing!" Kagome huffed, miffed Holy Rome still didn't forgive her for saying Italy was a guy- which he _was._

She was being nice to this guy, even after he didn't apologize for pushing her over yet...

Holy Rome rolled his eyes. Kagome must have his Italy and some other person- for some reason also named Italy- that was a guy.

"And I'ma telling you I don'ta believe you." he said stubbornly.

Kagome sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her friendship with Holy Rome was shaky at best and she didn't want to destroy it by giving him the facts.

"Ok, ok. Believe whatever you want. But you don't have to be so snarky." Holy Rome rounded on her with a light glare—hey, it was an improvement from before.

"I'ma not snarky! What does that even mean!" Kagome rolled her eyes.

"You shouldn't say you're not something if you don't know what it is. It could have been something nice."

"From you?" he snorted. "So far you hava said me a nothing nice!"

"Nothing ni- Well how about I start, you smart blond?" she said to annoy him.

"Don't try and turna the tables on me, you pretty foreigner!"

"I can turn the tables to my advantage any day, sparkly-eyes!"

"As ifa you could, you would've already you elegant girl!"

"Oh, now you've done it you cute doppelganger!"

"I ama no doppelganger, cherub-face!"

"You look just like Germany you perfectly complexioned man!"

"I do nota know what you ara talking about you porcelain doll!"

Hungary and Austria stood there watching them for a while. "I wonder, are they always gonna be like this?" she asked the bespectacled man beside her. He sighed.

"I hope not, they're starting to give me a headache. And this fight makes no sense! They're complimenting each other!"

"Yeah, I wonder how that happened…" Hungary sweatdropped.

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

MCD: **BAD CHAPTER IS BAD.** I know! But don't worry, next chapter begins the fluff :D This chapter was really stupidly short and I apologize for my lack of idea…

ALSO I am currently looking for a beta, possibly, if anyone is interested… needs experience with other works, needs to be able to run a lazy schedule…


	4. Dance

MCD: The next chappie, enjoy!

*ahem* Marukaite Chkyuu Doitsu does not own Hetalia, Inuyasha, her pen name, or the techno songs, "finish me" and "Power Of Pleasure".

Jeez, over 50 emails for "The Mask" and "Where Is Home" combined! Amazing! :D

Thank you Mitsuki Hyassi for reviewing! Shirahime Jade Silverstone for reviewing! MoonlightdemonKita for reviewing and story fave-ing! Bunny W.K. For reviewing! Kakashixangela for reviewing! Random Writer's Account (lol) for story fave-ing and story alerting! Sailor Silver Cosmos for story faving! ShiTsukisama for reviewing and author faving! SweetHunniiBunnii for reviewing! Jesswolf22 () for reviewing! Winter's Hime for reviewing! PrincessDeathLovesYou for story faving! Bumblebeecamaro38 for reviewing and author/story faving! UnstableFable for story-alerting and reviewing! xXxOtAkU-444xXx for reviewing! Birdie Ishtar for author alerting and story faving! ShikiKira for author alerting! 0rganizedChaos for author faving! Pissed Off Irish Chick for author faving!

Jeez that's a lot! Like, 6 more than last time XD thanks for your support, everybody! *hands out virtual cookies*

Also, I'm sorry if I don't get back to everyone's reviews, I am kinda busy. And also for those who DO review, please stop asking me to update, I try very hard to update whenever I can :)

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

Holy Rome strolled through the hallways of his old home, surprised almost nothing had changed.

Suddenly a strange type of music hit his ears and he frowned, wondering where it was coming from.

...Well, he did say _almost _nothing.

He walked into the dining hall to see Kagome mopping up the floors. For once, she was not wearing her green maid outfit but a small green skirt (that was entirely too short to be decent!) and a white shirt. The shirt was high on her stomach and tied together under her breasts. She was wearing a green tube top under it and her white sleeves were scrunched up to her elbows while she worked. Kagome shook her hips back and forth to the loud music that was coming out of the headphones around her neck and resting on her collar, smiling.

Holy Rome slapped a hand to his face to stop the nosebleed. Thank kami she had her eyes closed as she hummed along to the song or else she'd catch him staring at... at... well, at _her..._

**All** of her, his mind supplied perversely as Kagome started bobbing her head to the beat.

"I love you, Finish Me." she giggled to nothing in particular, still unaware of Holy Rome standing in front of her and twirled around the broom, lost in her own world. The twirl lifted her skirt just a little and unknowingly flashed the used-to-be nation.

Everything went hot and Holy Rome lifted his cape to his face to hide the blush and hopefully stop the bleeding. What was she talking about! Surely, she hadn't just told him to do what he thought...? Oh god. His gaze was glued to the floor as he silently slapped his face to wake himself up with his free hand.

While Holy Rome was off in his own world, "Finish Me" had ended and "The Power Of Pleasure" had come on in Kagome's world.

"Now it's time to dance, The discoteque is far, but i can hear the rhythm. So now i stop my car I'm going to the bar And finally start Dancing all around!" Kagome sang along with the lyrics. Of course it wasn't as high pitched, but it sounded good enough to her.

Holy Rome stared at Kagome, a little surprised that she could sing that well.

"...You make me feel so fine, and now I'm gonna tell you, you are the only one! I want you tonight!" he cursed himself again for the obvious blush on his face as he blatantly stared, watching her every move. She looked like silk being shaken... what? Holy Rome mentally groaned. Now was not the time for poetry!

"...It's the power of pleasure, the feeling I need. To the disco, on the dance floor~ welcome to my life, if you wanna move. It is time to make a party~!" she laughed happily, blissfully unaware of her friend's eyes glued to her body as she danced with the mop, using it as a microphone.

She opened her eyes, wondering if she'd actually gotten anything done in the past couple minutes, to find a blushing, gaping, embarrassed blonde looking at her. She blinked, raising an eyebrow in question.

Holy Rome gulped, snapping his mouth shut and sweating bullets in nervousness. He hadn't expected the woman to stop so abruptly.

"Uhh, I-er.." he said, tugging at his cape around his neck. It suddenly felt tighter for some reason, stopping him from speaking.

"What?" Kagome stifled a giggle, finding his expression rather amusing. She crossed her arms under her cleavage, drawing a glance in that direction from her company. Holy Rome snapped his eyes back to her face though before she could notice and hid his hands behind his back.

"Wha... I shoulda be asking you the sama thing." he said quickly. "What ara you doing, wearing..." he blushed again, nodding towards the skimpy top and skirt. "..th-that?"

Kagome grinned and twirled around again, showing her underwear once again to the blonde. His face reddened and he prayed he wouldn't have another nosebleed.

"I'm going to an Anime Con near this town in a little while. I didn't have a costume ready, so I butchered my old school uniform I brought with me and figured this would suffice. People can use their imagination for this one instead of me just being a character." she said and looked down at her skirt, checking for anything wrong. She twisted to look at her back, just in case there was anything wrong there.

Holy Rome could feel the heat rising in his head, his ears pounding with his heartbeat. Being a man, he had heard what she said and his brain had translated. "...school uniform, use.. imagination." and then showing off her pale, slender stomach hadn't helped. He wrapped his hand around his mouth and closed his eyes, trying to calm down for a minute. He opened his eyes slowly.

Only to have Kagome inches away from him, staring at him worriedly. She gently touched his arm.

"Holy Rome, are you ok? Your face is all red and you look like your in pain." she said and leaned up, pressing her chin to his forehead (there wasn't much height difference between them). Holy Rome got a eye full of Kagome's neck, making him blush all the more. She looked at him a little distressed."you're burning up and you don't look like you feel well. I can stay home from this con and take care of you.." she murmured thoughtfully, looking in his eyes that reminded her so much of Germany's. That thought was quickly erased as Holy Rome broke eye contact, looking off to the side.

"N-no, no, I'ma fine. I cana take care of myself. You can go to your anima con thing." he said, trying to save some of his pride. Kagome gave him a dazzling smile that made his heart flutter a little.

"Really? Are you sure? I can wait another month for the next one-"

"No, really, I'ma fine. You can go." he said, starting to feel bad for keeping her. Kagome smiled thankfully at him and the feeling in his heart stirred once more.

"Alright, thank you. But I'm going in a little while, so at least let me get you a glass of water, and you can rest in bed." she said and gently pushed him away. He complied.

When he got to his room, he threw his hat on a nightstand and unclipped his cape, letting it fall to the floor before flopping onto his bed. He winced at the sound of croaking metal springs. He vaguely wondered what he'd gotten himself into when Kagome walked in with a glass of water and some pills just in case he got a headache.

After that, Kagome wished him get better soon and left for her anime con (who knew she'd find one in Austria?) and left Holy Rome to his thoughts.

_**#~~#**_

_**(My shortest narration yet)**_

_**:Later That Week:**_

_**#~~#**_

Holy Rome sat in bed, shivering. His cloak was covering half of him and his hat was askew on his head, giving him a more pirate-ish look if it hadn't been for the shining blonde hair and his now sickly pale skin. He was sitting on the side of his bed, propping his leg on the bed frame so he could lean his elbow on his leg. He was leaning his face into his hand and he shivered every once in a while.

_((A/N: HRE/Feliciano fangirls, please don't kill me for the upcoming half of the chapter, I am just a poor, pathetic authoress and I would REALLY like to live a little bit longer!))_

Kagome eased the door open quietly with one hand, a tray with a glass of water and a stress-relieving pill, along with a plate of gourmet food in the other hand. She glanced in and upon seeing the object of her worries awake, let herself in.

"Holy Roman Empire?" she asked quietly and he looked up at her. She had to admit she was a little scared: Holy Rome's eyes were reddish from lack of sleep probably, and the way his usually slicked-back hair was all over the place like Germany with a bad case of bedhead...

Kagome willed herself to forget Ludwig for a moment and center her care around the man in front of her.

"Kagome.." he said sadly, his voice a little hoarse and he sighed, closing his eyes again and pinching the bridge of his nose. Kagome sighed as well, though it was in worry. She set the tray down on Holy Rome's nightstand and sat next to him, rubbing comforting circles on his back.

"Was it really that much of a surprise?" she chuckled dryly, despite her friend's health. Holy Rome rolled his eyes and took a sip of water.

"It wasn't justa that, it's also that I'ma not a country, nation, or empire anymore. I'ma not supposed to exist. I'ma surprised I've made it thisa long." He said, already sounding better. "But that did hava something to do witha it." He mumbled, dropping his head into his hand again and massaging his temples.

Kagome gave the Holy Roman Empire a sympathetic look. It was hard getting over a past love, she knew that much. Though she could tell it was much harder on her friend because it was completely unexpected, his first love, and, as he just found out after years and years of waiting, that the one he loved was the same gender…

It wasn't that Holy Rome hated Feliciano now, it was just that it felt awkward. After so long, only just being revealed to him that Italy was in fact a guy by the two people he viewed as parent figures. She could only guess how hard it was hard on him. Confusion and hurt were mixed in his aura quite thoroughly. And with a love and trust that deep, well, it must've hurt that Italy had never told him that he was also a _he._

That on top of his situation with fading out of existence had disastrous effects on his health, causing his ill state.

Kagome blinked, thinking of something. She bit her lip. She'd never tried it on a country before, much less a fading empire, but it was worth a shot. Even though it would reveal her secret she would not sit back and watch Holy Rome get sicker, even if their friendship was still a little shaky.

"Holy Rome." She said with steel lining her voice, startling him. "Stay still." She said softly.

"What ara you doing—" was all he managed to say before he fell asleep immediately, falling onto the bed with a soft "fwump".

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

MCD: Aaaand that's a wrap for this chapter! I know, I'm a terrible person, leaving you hanging like that. But at least you got a somewhat fluff-filled chapter! And so soon, too! I'm so glad I got all this typed before I lost it! *grabs plunny and waves a finger in front of his face* No no no, my little friend. Don't you try and run away from me like that! An extra-interesting chappie for an extra-long fore note! Once again, Italy/HRE fangirls, please refrain from killing me with sharp, pointy items or shooty things! *runs into office and locks the door*


	5. Secret

MCD: An extra special chapter just to celebrate the fifth chapter of my first chapter story :D

Thank you to fbfh and nk for story-alerting! UnstableFable for author fave-ing, reviewing and author/story fave-ing! To those who weep for reviewing! The willow for reviewing! ShiTsukisama for reviewing! MoonlightdemonKita for reviewing! SweetHunniiBunnii for reviewing! Bunny W.K. For reviewing! Shirahime Jade Silverstone for reviewing! Jesswolf22 for reviewing! Bumblebeecamaro38 for reviewing! MidnightReader1 for author alerting! Blackfox-vixen for story fave-ing!

**Upcoming stories hopefully:** I'm trying to do a russia/kag, england/kag, cuba/kag, an inu/england and possibly a prussia/kag... oh dear...

**And to the anonymous reviewer that keeps asking for an inuyasha/england**: Well, I'm trying, and I am listening thank you very much! You sound impatient because you've reviewed practically the same message on two of my stories, asking for an england/inuyasha and I'm trying to come up with one! HOWEVER I have never done a yaoi before so please cool your anonymous jets or I **will **disable anonymous reviews!

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

_**Flashback to last chapter: **_

_Kagome blinked, thinking of something. She bit her lip. She'd never tried it on a country before, much less a fading empire, but it was worth a shot. Even though it would reveal her secret she would not sit back and watch Holy Rome get sicker, even if their friendship was still a little shaky._

_"Holy Rome." She said with steel lining her voice, startling him. "Stay still." She said softly._

_"What ara you doing—" was all he managed to say before he fell asleep immediately, falling onto the bed with a soft "fwump"._

Kagome retracted her pink, glowing hand from the ex-empire's back and sighed. It had been a while since she'd needed to use her healing powers on anyone. She frowned, crinkling her brow as she ran her glowing hand over his back, relieved to find that the was in considerably better shape than just a few minutes before. She stopped her powers and rubbed her wrist in worry. Though she was glad she hadn't purified him because he wasn't technically 'human', she knew she'd have to explain this to him when he woke up. Maybe he'd allow her to keep it a secret?

She didn't want to become a weapon of mass destruction or something ridiculous because of her powers. That was why she'd kept it a secret from all of her other country/nation friends until she had made that scene... minus Kiku, of course, he'd known from the get-go. That's why she was so important to him and knew he was Japan in the first place.

Kagome frowned sadly, wondering if that was the only reason she was important to Japan, because she had miko powers.

She shook her head, banishing those thoughts. She would **not **believe that her powers were the only reason she was important to her friends, not like last time when it had been true.

Urgh, was that really all she thought about! Kagome sat up a little straighter in a more dignified manner with a determined expression. She would not let her past consume her!

With a smile, she jumped up from the bed and walked out of the room, leaving a crack in the door and looking back at Holy Rome.

"Get better soon, Holy Rome." she smiled and gently closed the door.

_**#~~#**_

_**(ok, **__**this**__** is my shortest narration yet)**_

_**:Meanwhile:**_

_**#~~#**_

Germany slammed his fist on his desk, making it rattle and his coffee cup jump.

"Dammit! Vhere is she!" he shouted angrily, balling his hands into fists. The other countries in the ragtag conference group jumped, startled by Ludwig's outburst. Italy sniffled, tears in his closed eyes.

"I don't know." he mumbled, twirling his pasta around his fork dejectedly like he had been for the past half hour. For once he was not excited by the mere thought of pasta... it reminded him of ramen, which reminded him of Kagome, which reminded him that she had left them all for so long, almost a month now, which made him think that he might never see his best friend ever again... you get the point.

America sighed in frustration, pacing in front of everyone near the chalkboard. So far all of his totally awesome idea had been shot down because they'd "_never work" _or were,_"bloody ridiculous"_ his mind whined immaturely. How could a giant robot Kagome tracker he launched into outer space to find her like a satellite, swoop down and catch her, then bring her back _not_ be a wicked idea? He'd just need Japan to back him up with the plans and technology, Germany to back him up with the engineering of the robot, and everyone else just back him up with the idea.

France scratched his stubble in actual serious thought. "Hm, where have we checked so far?" he asked, looking at the world map on the table. England snorted.

"The question is more like where _haven't_ we searched, bloody frog." he muttered the last part. "We've searched the whole world almost. We've sent notices to look out for a Japanese lass of Kagome's description to everyone we know. Hell, we've even listened to America for ideas!" he said and threw his hands up in exasperation to prove how ridiculous this was getting.

China frowned, leaning his head on his hands in thought. He scratched his head with one of his hands that was hidden by his overly-large sleeves.

"Have we thought of where she might _want _to be, aru?" he said and the others stared at him in question. "I mean, Kagome-nee told me that she always wanted to visit the Egyptian ruins, aru. Nobody lives _in _the ruins, right aru?" he pointed out. Japan blinked.

"But wouldn't that mean she would get caught by the security that patrols there?" he said, popping the small hopeful bubble. Usually when he sensed the atmosphere he'd refrain from speaking, but nothing was worse than false hope. "Besides, Egypt-san would have reported her to us already."

"Actually, probably not." Greece spoke up, waking from his nap. "I've seen the way he looks at Japan, him and Turkey both. Just imagine what he'd do if he had a cuter, less shy, _female _version of him, or even what Turkey would do." he said and dozed off again. Japan was blushing scarlet and all the countries in the room were currently overloading with perverted thoughts.

As if to prove Greece's point, France smirked. "Hon hon hon~!" he laughed quietly. "_I_ can see the benefits of that!" he snickered. Germany scowled, his fists tightening as he fought back the urge to punch the Frenchman.

Suddenly the air was thick with tension as all of the countries stood at once, thinking the same thing, glaring coldly at each other. Germany left with a silent Italy and a cold Japan, while the others left by themselves, one at a time. Russia was the last to leave. He chuckled.

"Let the real search begin, da." he said childishly and walked out the door behind China.

Greece blinked awake, looking around at the empty conference room.

"Oh my..." he said in amusement, before petting a cat beneath the table.

Germany glared at the walls as they left. Italy, who hadn't really known what was going on in the conference room, looked at his best friend innocently.

"Germany? What's going to happen?" the taller nation sighed, not looking back at Italy.

"I really don't know." he said.

_'Kagome... where in zhe world are you?'_ he thought.

One thing was for sure though- they were all going to pay a visit to Egypt and/or Turkey.

_**#~~#**_

_**Back in Austria, Kagome was just finishing her story to Holy Rome, who had woken up a little while ago feeling much better than he had before he went to sleep. It has been a couple hours...**_

_**#~~#**_

"...And so, not wanting to literally wallow in the past, I left my home at the Shrine and traveled Japan for sometime, much like I had in the Feudal era. One day I met Kiku, who is the representation of Japan.."

"And that's how you became tangled up witha the other countries." Holy Rome slowly finished for the sad Japanese woman in front of him that had just told him the strangest story he'd ever heard. Kagome bit her lower lip and nodded, trying not to cry at the obviously unconvinced tone of his voice. She'd only wanted to tell him about her powers but when he'd asked, it had all just come tumbling out in a rush of emotions.

Even Kiku hadn't known the whole story, what with the heartache, the sadness and the overall emotional roller-coaster (kami how she hated using that cheesy line to describe her feelings) she had been forced through. Even though she and the other countries were close, they'd never learned her true story, her life, her background besides what she and Kiku had been willing to make public.

And so, her feelings had been bottled up as she lived with even more drama because of the countries. None of them knew, they just figured she'd been one of Kiku's friends. It hurt not being able to have them fully know her, just what they knew about her, but she was willing to go through with it. She knew she'd never have a normal life. But now that she'd actually told somebody, someone that was her friend, it felt good to have let it all go. Now she just wondered if Holy Rome actually believed her.

Holy Rome sucked in a breath, trying to decide about her story. Even though her feelings were genuine, the unshed tears in her eyes, the anger in her voice as she mentioned every time about how the hanyou would go off and see his dead beloved, even though he knew Kagome had feelings for him, the happiness in her face every time she would mention the young fox kit she had come to take as her son... he couldn't seem to grasp his mind around the thought of demons and half demons and evil monsters that tried to kill her.

Of course, he believed her when she talked about her powers. She'd even shown him how her hand glowed and a warm, tingling feeling came over him when she touched him with the power-charged appendage. He was a little shameful to admit that he'd jumped back and stared at her like she was some sort of creature at first, even though she said she forgave him for it. But the rest of the story...

Holy Rome sighed, fingering the rim of his hat in his lap. He looked at her crestfallen form, almost regretting what he was going to say.

"Kagome.." she jumped a little, looking at him nervously. "I.. I don'ta quite believe your tale." he said and she slumped, staring at the floor.

"I didn't expect you to." she said bitterly and scuffed her foot on the floor.

"I'ma not finished," he said with an agitated breath. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye suspiciously. If he was going to suggest she get medication she was going to purify his sorry ass... "I wanted to say, even though I don't believe most ofa your story, I don'ta think your crazy." he said and she stared at him, silently urging him to elaborate. He gulped, looking anywhere but her face. "I... The look ina your eyes tells me that there was something very tragic ina your life... even though I'ma not sure abouta your epic story." he said, waiting for her to smack him upside the head or something for not believing him or burst into tears for thinking she was crazy.

What he certainly wasn't expecting was for Kagome to latch onto his chest in a hug. Holy Rome blushed a little, hugging her back awkwardly as she buried her face in his chest. He could hear sniffling, but she practically vibrated with giggles that tickled him a little. He stared at the crown of her shiny raven hair, wondering if she _had _gone crazy.

Kagome lifted her head, blinking a tear from her eye and smiling brightly.

"Thank you." she said sincerely, looking him the eye seriously. "Thank you for even partially believing in me and not thinking I'm a nutjob. Even if you don't think all my story is true." she laughed. Holy Rome smiled brightly. Kagome's happiness was practically infectious.

Kagome blushed, realizing just how close they were when she felt Holy Rome's breath on her lips. She froze, and so did he when he realized just a few seconds later. They were so close that if she just leaned up a little more... she looked at Holy Rome nervously and suddenly found herself caught in his blue-eyed gaze. And for once, she didn't think about Germany. Holy Rome's eyes were such a unique color, an aqua blue instead of Germany's popular sky blue ones, and she was entranced.

Someone famous had said that the eyes were the window to the soul... some emotion flickered in his eyes before Kagome could recognize it. Holy Rome looked like he was about to say something, though she would have not heard it over the pounding of her own heart in her ears. They were seriously... seriously... so close...

"Kagome, are you in- OH!" Hungary said, opening the door to Holy Rome's room and just like that, the moment was shattered. Kagome and Holy Rome both jumped away from each other, blushing furiously.

"Uhh.. is there something you need, Elizaveta?" Kagome asked, not looking at her or Holy Rome out of embarrassment. Hungary blinked.

"Ah, no…not really.. sorry for interrupting! Ah, just... just continue with whatever you were, erhm, doing!" Hungary stifled a giggle and quickly backed out of the room, closing the door and speed walking down the hall. She had to find Roderich and tell him what just happened!

Holy Rome sat next to Kagome for a while, not really knowing what to think. A couple minutes later Kagome stood up, blushing lightly still, and excused herself.

"Just call me if you need something, okay?" she said, gently closing the door behind her. She sighed, slapping her forehead. What was she getting herself into?

_**#~~#**_

_**(what is up with me and these short narrations?)**_

_**With Hungary**_

_**#~~#**_

"-and I just opened the door, 'cos it was so quiet I thought Holy Rome was asleep and Kagome and Holy Rome were wrapped into each other's arms, staring lovingly into their eyes and it was so adorable!" Hungary squealed and clapped excitedly, almost squirming in excitement. Roderich was staring at her. He stood up from his spot on the piano bench and put his hands on her shoulders carefully, getting her attention.

"Hungary...calm down. You aren't acting normal. You need to get some rest." he said slowly, nudging her towards the door. Hungary's eye twitched in annoyance.

"Hey, I don't have to be a freaking tomboy 24/7!" she growled, glaring at him. Austria gulped, backing towards the piano and holding his hands up.

"I was not accusing you of being a tomboy, I was just saying you were acting out of character." he said, trying to keep the quiver out of his voice. Hungary could be really scary sometimes! Hungary just rolled her eyes, smiling.

"Oh ho ho, this is going to make a cute prompt for my fanfics!" she mumbled mischievously and skipped out of the room without another word.

Roderich blinked, wondering what just happened.

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

**MCD: Fail ending, I know. **But I'm going to be gone for a while because I'm going camping with my friends, so I made it a little longer and a bit more entertaining. Don't expect a chapter or another story very soon :P sorry! Ja ne~


	6. Shopping

MCD: Woop! Here we go, I'm back~ I'm kinda sad tho, my story I _Choose You!_ And _Legally Hetalian _totally bombed :( Anyway, didn't really know where to start back up, so this chapter is going to be kinda filler-ish :(

Thank you to Shirahime Jade Silverstone for reviewing! Krystal Riverwind for reviewing! Unstable Fable for reviewing (btw, thank you for the "nee"/"nii" error!) KEdakumi for story alerting! Mei15 for reviewing! Sasuke's-Killer122 for story faveing! Sweet Hunnii Bunnii for reviewing! Bumblebeecamaro38 for reviewing! ShiTsukisama for reviewing! Maxeyn for story alerting! ShadowFoxMoon for story alerting and reviewing! Random Writer's Account for author alerting! Winter Winds for author alerting! Firehart for author alerting! Verlorn Fortuin for story alerting! Red Night Moon Sky for story faveing! sweetyjg for story alerting! Hybridchild001 for story faveing! Ibdemented for story faveing, story alerting! Ant Carrying A Rubber Tree for reviewing, story alerting and faveing!

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

Kagome stared at Holy Rome. And stared. And stared. He was getting more on edge every second until suddenly-

"What _ara _you staring ata me for?" he said, fidgeting under her scrutiny. She blinked.

"Gomen nasai," she mumbled, embarrassed. "It's just that you always wear that hat and cloak and neck tie. Doesn't it get hot or something?" she asked, poking his hat. He cocked an eyebrow, trying to decide if he should be amused and it won out. He smiled, turning more to her.

"Yes, sometimes. But this isa really the only outfit I'va ever worn." he shrugged. He'd always worn a cape, the neck hanky, the hat, his boots, etc. They defined him.

Kagome pouted, thinking. She grinned and grabbed his hand, dragging him in a random direction. He blushed a little and looked down at their hands, but he snapped out of it.

"Where ara you taking me?" he asked as she spun them around a corner, swinging him in a wide arc and he stumbled, gripping onto her hand tighter. His heart fluttered a little from just that.

"One word: Shopping!" she laughed and he went completely pale.

"Mio dio, you're going to killa me, aren't you?" he said, sweatdropping and staring at her incredilously. She laughed evilly.

"Maybe~!" she sang and they burst into the sunlight, and suddenly he was being dragged into town. "Ooh, but if you do die, can I have your hat?" she giggled. He shook his head but smiled. Kagome was such a goofball.

_**#~~#**_

Italy whined miserably, covering his head with his jacket.

"Germany, it's hoootttt!" he cried, drinking more of his quickly depleting water. Germany growled a little, trying fervently to ignore the loud Italian.

"It's always hot here, shtupid.." he muttered, navigating through the crowded streets of Egypt. Japan sighed, he was sweating bullets and the two other countries were slowly driving him crazy with their banter.

Italy whimpered and let his head fall. He was suffering from the heat, pasta deprivation, and most of all he missed Kagome. It had been exactly one month and one day since she'd stormed off and they still hadn't the slightest clue as to where she might be.

Well, technically they had a trail, but that was based on opinions, not fact. Italy sighed. He desperately needed a siesta. But even that was evading his grasp, he usually curled up by Kagome while he took his siestas and since Germany was so strict and Japan was a prude, he'd been lacking his naps for the past **month. **He was practically dying from it!

Germany kept a stoic face, though on the inside he wasn't sure to be happy or pissed off if they found Kagome at Egypt's house. From what Greece had said, _which still really ticked him off, _there was the possibility that Turkey and or Egypt were there, doing… _lewd _things to her, but if she was there he would've found her and they could all go back to their normal, orderly lives once again.

Well, a life as normal as a country could get.

Suddenly Germany stopped, breaking Japan from his meditative state and Italy's near-siesta in the street.

"We're here." He said simply, staring up at the large building. "Vell? Come on now! Ve have to see if she's here." he said, reminding them why they were suffering the hot weather in the first place.

After a few minutes of searching and a lot of ID-showing, they were ushered into Egypt's private office, but they'd been beaten to it.

France, England and America were currently cornering the two countries against the wall and they looked nervous.

"I swear I didn't do it!" Egypt cried out, hiding behind Turkey, who pushed him away. He scowled.

"You idiot! What the fuck, what, is there a party we didn't know about!" he growled, pointing at Germany, Italy and Japan. The other three turned, looking annoyed.

"You're a bit late." England said, crossing his arms over his chest. Germany snorted.

"You vouldn't believe zhe traffic." he said sarcastically.

"Enough! We should get to le point, non?" France said, sorely agitated. He needed his little Kagome toy back to harass. It was so funny when she got riled up at him for touching her ass. Although her slaps hurt like a bitch... Everyone in the room nodded, minus the two confused countries in the corner.

Japan turned to Turkey and Egypt. "Where is Kagome?"

They both looked confused and Turkey spoke.

"Kaggy? How would I know?" he said, frowning. What was wrong that they'd come for him and Egypt for Kagome?

Egypt also frowned, extremely confused. "What's up with Kagome? I haven't spoken to her in at least a month and a half." Turkey turned to him, a little startled.

"Now that I think about it, neither have I! She usually brings me bento twice a month, I thought she was ignoring me!" he said, making the other countries still. Kagome wasn't here _either?_

Germany started to growl, low and feral and it scared everyone. They scrambled away, searching for cover from the German man's infamous temper. He screeched so loud that it rattled the windows and made the pedestrians on the streets below pause for a moment.

"_YOU MEAN WE WALKED THROUGH BOILING HOT WEATHER WITH NO BEER FOR NO REASON? MEIN GOTT I'M GOING TO STRANGLE SOMETHING!"_

_**#~~#**_

A couple hours later, Kagome stumbled through the door, tired but happy. Austria turned away from the piano for a moment and looked at Kagome, concerned. He stood and walked over to her.

"Kagome, are you alright? You leave in a blur, without a trace and suddenly, hours later, you appear out of no where, stumbling in a like a drunk! What's gotten into you?" he scolded/asked. He didn't want to house some crazy woman, no matter how good a job she did. (little bit late for that, Roddy)

"I did it!" she exclaimed, confusing the poor man.

"Kagome, _what did you do?" _he said, grasping her shoulders.

"It took me a couple hours but I did it! HUUUNNNGGAARRYYY!" she shouted, making Austria cover his ears. The poor woman came racing around the corner, cast-iron skillet in hand, battle ready even in a dress. She skidded to a halt in front of the two, making Roderich wonder if he'd ever get his hearing back.

"What! What is it? Is Prussia here again, because I swear-" she started to threaten the AWESOME non-present albino but Kagome jumped away from Roderich and grabbed the woman, pushing her towards him. She shoved them both down on the piano bench with an "oomph" and looked at them with pride shining in her eyes.

"I did it! He looks amazing. He always covered himself up with a cape though! But now you have to see him! Wait here, it's my surprise for you!" she said a hundred miles an hour and suddenly ran back to the door, throwing it open. But neither of the confuzzled countries saw anything and Kagome began to yell.

"Hey! Get over here! I did not spend time and money on you just so you could walk around in a nervous fit! C'mere," she said and jumped out the door, making some strange noise. A minute later Kagome backed into the room, clinging to an unhappy Holy Rome as she dragged him in.

"Kagome!" he said in embarrassment, much like a teenager talking to his mother. She rolled her eyes and pushed Holy Rome towards the two, finally giving them a full view of the ex-nation.

He was wearing a tight, long sleeve black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows that fit snugly onto his well-toned upper body. A golden watch gleamed on his wrist. He wore loose, black jeans and simple black shoes. He was rather tall, when you go ta look at him without all his other clothes stuffed on him. However his black-n-gold hat still sat on his head, albeit it was tilted to the side making him seem very rogue-ish, or pirate-ish, whatever you prefer.

Holy Rome was, simply put, extremely hot.

Hungary gaped at him and jumped up, quickly circling him like a shark with its prey.

"Oh my god, you look.. you look..."

"Hot? Smexy? I know~." Kagome smirked triumphantly and HRE blushed. He huffed angrily and crossed his arms. Austria stared at him. Never would he have imagined Holy Rome in anything other than his cape and hat...

"Can I hava my clothes back now?" the harassed ex-empire said and glared at the small Japanese woman, while she just laughed.

"Nope! Not until you wear it around for a full 24 hours! And yes, just for you, now and from the store counts." she said grudgingly and Holy Rome sighed loudly, not really able to stay mad at her. After all, he did look really good and he fit in a lot better...

_'Gah! Am I really thanking that __**nutjob**__ for harassing me in a department store! Little brat..' _his mind whined and he glared at Kagome while she talked with Hungary about his outfit. He was snapped out of his musings by his father-figure.

"You don't seem to mind that she's dressed you up in this getup, hm?" Austria said, raising an elegant eyebrow in amusement. Holy Rome blushed a little, but looked away.

"It's not like I hada choice ina the matter." he said stiffly and Austria smirked.

"You are an excellent fighter and swordsman, I would know, I trained you. Yet you did not resist this," he motioned to the outfit, "at all?" he said, entertainment lining his voice.

It made Holy Rome pause. He hadn't really given up a fight, had he? That was odd... he probably wouldn't have allowed this from anyone else. Was it that Kagome was just so delightedly goofy that he decided to humor her more and let her dress him up? But that was stupid, why only for Kagome? Sure, she was special to him, but so special that he'd allow her to make him wear some ridiculous clothing?

Austria chuckled, walking to his room. He left Holy Rome to stare at Kagome. He'd probably be very embarrassed if he realized what he was doing.

"Kagome, why did you let him keep his hat of all things?" Hungary asked, honestly curious. Kagome blinked.

_They were at the mall. Holy Rome had finally come out of the dressing room, in his new outfit that Kagome absolutely loved. He looked at her and suddenly she caught her breath. He looked like a grumpy Germany on a bad day, arms crossed over his chest, frowning, glimmering blue eyes and blonde hair... She frowned. Something... she needed something! She suddenly spied his hat in his hand and she grinned, slapping it crookedly on his head._

"_Perfect!"_

"'Cos, it makes him look kinda rogue-ish, right? I thought it looked cool." she came up with and Hungary nodded, buying it. They continued talking, but Kagome's real thoughts were shoved to the back of her mind for a different day.

_'Why didn't I want him to look like Germany?'_

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

_#~#~#_

MCD: BOM BOM BOM! How do you like it? I'm sorry for the wait, school is keeping me busy. I'm going back in **two friggin days! **I want to die...*emoes in a corner*

On a happier note, I'm going to New York Anime Fest/Comic Con in October! SO HAPPY! I'm going as China, if anyone else is going give me a shout out beforehand ;D

I hated having to make up an outfit for HRE, but at least he's smexy~ Also, i am now an official beta! HURRAH :3


	7. Feelings

MCD: I REALLY WANTED TO DO THIS CHAPTER! Bwahahahaha! GRWAR RAEG

I'm sorry for my energetic-ness, but this is what excessive amounts of pocky do to me. It doesn't matter what flavor it is, I'll go absolutely insane if I have more than three sticks of the stuff.

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HAJIMEEEE! *jumps out the window while Mission Impossible music plays in the background*

Thank you to Yoruko Rhapsodos (very creative name, btw, I likey!) for story alerting! Shirahime Jade Silverstone for reviewing! Kagome13cdj for story alerting! Bumblebeecamaro38 for reviewing! Techi1590 for story alerting! Bunny W.K. For reviewing! SweetHunniiBunnii for reviewing! ShiTsukisama for reviewing! Kitsune Hime 99 for story alerting! TsukiyoTenshi for author alerting! DarkAngelLillithX for story alerting! Kiera-sama for author faveing and alerting! Watergoddesskasey for reviewing and author alerting! Gintsukikyu for story alerting and reviewing! BarleyRice for favoriting (btw, I love both foods in your name~) and Kingdomlily for story alerting!

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

Austria stared at the paper while Hungary sat, biting her lip and waiting for his reaction. Her inner fangirl was squealing and rolling around on the floor and she was literally _squirming_ in anticipation.

He looked up from the paper at his absolutely insane ex.

"...And this is your "brilliant plan" that you just had to show me as soon as I got done playing the piano or else the world would explode into a bajillion bits and be conquered by space pirates?" he said, quoting her from just a few minutes earlier. She nodded and a tiny squeal escaped her mouth by accident. Austria sighed. "You're starting to sound more and more like America, you know." he deadpanned and she rolled her eyes, making a loud huffing sound.

"But this is brilliant! I swear, it will whip them both together faster than you can say Inferno Divider in a Christopher Walkens accent!" she cried out and he swore his eye twitched. He made a noise between a sigh and a groan and slapped his forehead.

"Fine, just do it if it'll make you so happy!" he said and she jumped up, squealing like a mad fangirl.

"You will NOT regret this!" she shouted and zipped out of the room, leaving Austria to think that he was already regretting it...

He shook his head and grinned a little. Leave it to Hungary to play match maker.

**#~~#**

Kagome looked confusedly at her friend, as did Holy Roman Empire. "A ball?"

"Yep!" Hungary answered. She had it all set up with Roderich yesterday. "Sounds like fun, right? I'm even getting Roderich himself to play the piano while everyone dances!" she squealed and spun around in circles, her hands clasped together. "It's going to be amaz~~ing!"

Holy Rome frowned. "But when is it?" he asked and Hungary halted (and stumbled drunkenly).

"Tonight!" she answered merrily as soon as she got her bearings back. The other two feel over comically. "In only four hours." she said. She was glad her and Roderich's friends could make it; surprisingly, most of them emailed her back and said they'd attend with only a day's notice. How odd.

"Only four hours to get ready!" Kagome spewed incredulously after Holy Rome helped her off the floor. "I don't have a formal dress, no makeup, I need a shower-"

"No need to worry!" Hungary said suddenly and smiled brilliantly. "It's not really a formal party, you can wear anything. Just as long as it isn't trashy~." Elizaveta sing-songed and skipped off into the next room without another word, probably to go help set up the decorations for the party.

Kagome shook her head. "You know that woman's got problems, right?"

"So do you." Holy Rome said, amusement dancing in his eyes. Kagome struck a cute pose and winked at him.

"Yeah, but I know that's what you like about me~" she giggled and ran off to her room to get changed.

And as he was walking away, Holy Rome thought- just maybe,- that just might be true.

_**#~~#**_

_**The party went on for a couple of hours- which included multiple people getting drunk, Gilbert showing up only to get bashed in the head with Hungary's cast-iron frying pan and thrown out the door before he could come to and see Kagome, Holy Rome being called... something that probably should not be repeated in respect for the younger audience by a particularly intoxicated guest, and Kagome going a-whol on said guest. We now rejoin Kagome and Holy Roman Empire out on the balcony, after the party. And just to make you happy, let's just say the stars were specifically sparkly and the moon was suspiciously bright. Too bad there was a cold front coming in...(btw, Kagome is wearing that yellow dress and little blue jacket from one of the earlier episodes and Holy Rome is wearing his usual).**_

_**#~~#**_

Kagome stared up at the stars, fondly remembering the times she used to sleep under them with a certain naughty kitsune snuggled up to her side. It certainly helped to not feel bitter about it. A slight breeze made a stray strand of hair fly around and she shivered. Fall was setting in. She'd have to return soon...

A soft click sounded behind her but she didn't have to turn around to know who it was that opened the balcony sliding-glass doors. He was probably the only one who wasn't stumbling around drunkenly or fast asleep on a random couch.

She smiled. "Hey, Holy Rome."

"Hey." he mumbled and walked over to her, leaning his back onto the balcony next to her. He was staring at the doors into the ballroom. Kagome quirked an eyebrow at him.

"What, not the partying type?" she asked teasingly, although it wasn't much of a party anymore. Who knew Elizaveta's friends were terrible drunks?

"Thisa isn't my type of party," Holy Rome stated and rolled his eyes. He hadn't touched a drink once all night. Not even the innocent-enough looking punch.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Kagome nodded in agreement and went back to looking at the stars. Kagome inwardy sighed. Her thoughts were so stupid, she didn't know what to say. Should she tell Holy Roman Empire or what?

"Holy Rome," Kagome said, her tongue betraying her mind. He turned his head to her and refrained from blushing a little. Kagome looked so very beautiful, starlight sparkling in her eyes and moonlight making her skin and hair glow. "Yes?"

Kagome sighted and stopped herself from biting her own tongue. Why was this suddenly so hard? She couldn't even look him in the eye.

"I… I'm going back soon." She felt her heart clench when a look of confusion then shock spread across her friend's face. She couldn't explain the guilt that suddenly weighed her down. "I came here for a reason… and, well, now that I've all relaxed and stuff, I think I should be heading back. The others will be worried. I hadn't realized how long I was gone…" For some reason… she almost hadn't told him. She didn't know why. But it made her think twice, and now that she'd gone and said it, she didn't feel right. Almost like she didn't want to leave, to go back.

Holy Rome swallowed the thickness in his throat. He felt torn and broken. Why? He didn't know. But it _hurt_. Why did she have to tell him this now? When everything had been perfect.

Life has a way of doing things like that. It would ever so slowly creep up behind you and right when you got comfortable, it would punch you in the gut. A moment could shatter like glass around your feet.

He should've expected this. His time with Kagome (which, looking back, seemed so short. Where had the time gone?) had been too good to be true. She'd probably go back to her other countries and forget all about him. He would be lost in history again like a memory…

"How long? Untila you go back?" his voice sounded hoarse.

Kagome gave him a small, teasing grin, but held no true humor. "You sound like I'm gonna up and disappear," she said and honestly, he felt if he took his eyes off her, she would- "Not now. Not tomorrow. In a week."

One week. Seven days. One-hundred and sixty-eight hours. It seemed like such a long time, but in reality, how much of it would be spent with her?

Kagome shivered from the unpleasant silence and the sudden chill in the air. Holy Rome noticed and stepped next to her. She was about to question him when he unclipped his cape and slung it around her shoulders, fastening it in front of her. Kagome blushed a little. She'd been pulled close to him so he could put his cape around her- which smelled surprisingly pleasant, like rain.

She at him and suddenly was caught in those shining pools of aqua again. The emotion in his eyes was guarded, which was unusual for him. Normally she could see what he was feeling like in his eyes.

"Let'sa not think about that now, alright?" he stated more than asked and gently held her hand, bringing it up to his lips for a gentle peck. Kagome felt her face burn from the act. "That other party was nota my type, but, may I hava this dance?" he asked, their gazes still glued together.

Kagome, dumbstruck, simply nodded and allowed Holy Rome to pull her out into the middle of the large balcony. From there he gently wrapped his arm around her waist and let her head lean on his chest. His other hand was still holding hers, she noted with a blush. They started swaying in a simple waltz- type movement.

There were no decorations, no party-goers and there was a notable lack of music, but being together in that moment was a sort of simplistic perfection for both of them.

Kagome smiled a little as she swayed in rhythm with Holy Rome. Her heart pounded faster than usual and she couldn't really describe how happy she was in that moment, but it was something akin to bliss, she mused. It just felt so _right_. Listening to Holy Rome's slightly quickened heart beat, dancing in a simple yet endearing way, their only company the stars above… it was probably the reason she was feeling so different. Holy Rome was just her friend… right?

Aforementioned ex-nation leaned his chin on Kagome's forehead (even though there wasn't much height difference between them, he managed) and stared off into the night. Only one week. It was long enough, but it seemed to loom over him, like a disaster waiting to happen. Would Kagome really leave him and forget him? What if she remembered him one day but he'd already faded out of existence? His heart clenched. Would she even care?

His mind was slowly filled with "what-ifs" and "what-could-happens", but when he felt Kagome sigh softly and relax against him, he silently vowed to make sure Kagome remembered him. Through her hectic life with crazy countries and strange friends, she would be able to think back to him and smile. Maybe even come back for him one day.

_**#~~#**_

Hungary and Austria stood behind the opening glass doors, watching the two of them.

Austria perched his hands on his ex-wife's shoulders, looking at the two.

"You did good." He mumbled approvingly, as if speaking any louder would've alerted those outside to their presence.

Hungary smiled, her eyes sparkling in quiet happiness.

"It wasn't me at all. They just fell together." She said just as quietly, pride in Holy Rome ringing in her voice. Perhaps he would recognize his feelings for the young maid soon.

Austria smiled and shook his head slowly. "What is it with you and those two?"

"They're so adorable together! You have to admit it," Hungary said smugly. Their little conversation stretched until they went to their respective bedrooms, leaving the two outside on the large balcony to realize what time it was eventually. (read: 1:30 in the morning.)

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

MCD: *sighs and falls into bed* You have no idea how hard it was to perfect this chapter. At first I was all bouncy because of my pocky raeg, so I wanted to do a happy chapter, but then I got sidetracked and bored from school work so it turned out mediocre and I had to redo it, THEN I watched some HetaOni vids and some fics too, and I got all angsty and depressed! I am still extremely jumpy; that alien seriously scares me and I jump at anything and everything now.

I would also like to say; Thank you. Thank you so much, everyone. Looking at my traffic for the last two months, I now know that I have had people viewing my stories from; **The US, Canada **(yes, I know you're there, and I love you all)**, Australia, the UK, the Philippines, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Chile, Finland, the Netherlands, Japan **(*hyperventilates*)**, Argentina, France, The Bahamas, Mexico, Spain **(I have tomatoes~)**, Bahrain, Hong Kong, China **(aru!)**, Trinidad and Tobago, Vietnam, American Samoa, Norway, Venezuela, Ireland, Italy **(my heritage!)**, Estonia, Singapore, Jamaica, Croatia, India, Indonesia, Ukraine **(Please ask brother Russia if he can see Sarah Palin from his house for me)**, Macau, Northern Mariana Islands, Portugal, Malaysia, Thailand, Hungary **(omfgILOFFYEW)**, Iceland, Romania, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Israel and Guam. I feel so extremely lucky to have people from all across the world read my stories.**

Ja ne! Oh, and I have a Hungarian friend! HOW COOL IS THAT! Sadly, he does not possess a frying pan at random moments…And I have a GERMAN enemy. I'm ITALIAN. Oh the irony…


	8. Explained

MCD: I couldn't help but update! I really should be working on **Breaking Barriers**, but this is my muse for now!

H-holy... I got over 40 emails... uhhm, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna skip all the thanking for just this update, if you don't mind... I'm really impatient right now and I want to get this chapter out already! Instead I'll answer the reviews for chappy 7 Thank you to the people who either didn't review or I didn't thank~

**Kitsune Hime 99- **lol! My chapter was so amazing you could only describe it in Gibberish! I am, in fact, fluent in Gibberish and I thank you for your compliments! I hope I am as awesome as Prussia!

**Bunny.W.K.- **Haha yep, you did say that ;) laziness is a disease for most, and I am also infected so no biggy!

**UnstableFable- **Haha! Hey my friend! Sorry I haven't pmed you back, eheh ^-^; Your comment made me go awww... and crack up XD It's a good thing your friend is with you on the Hetalia-ness! MY friends are all like, "eww, yaoi? U gotta be kiddin me! Yuri is okayyy~~ tho~" creepy, right! -_- I LOVE GerIta! ..*headdesks* I believe that, it's been out for a while, but seriously... that would screw up this whole storyline!

Uuhhh this is kinda long, so after the chapter I'll answer some others down on the bottom!

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

Germany sat across from Japan, sipping some beer. But for once that was not helping the situation. Damn his ability to hold his liquor incredibly well...

Germany rubbed his temples, feeling exhausted from just a talk with his friend.

"Please, explain it me vone more time?" Japan nodded patiently and swirled his tea around a little.

"Kagome Higurashi is a miko, or priestess, the only one in her generation. As her grandfather once said, holy powers must skip a generation, because none of the Higurashis' has had miko or houshi powers in several generations. On her fifteenth birthday, she entered the miniature shrine house to the Bone Eater's well on her family's property while searching for her cat. While she was in there, however, a centipede youkai, or demon, referred to as "Mistress Centipede" kidnapped her and dragged her into the well and 500 years across time. I am positive this was possible because the Shikon No Tama, a sacred jewel created hundred of years before, was awakened by Kagome's spiritual powers, as well as Mistress Centipede.

"While in the Feudal era, she made several friends, three of whom were either part demon or full demon. A demon slayer, a monk, a half demon, a demon fire cat, and a fox demon child. They traveled around for some time and engaged in multiple battles against random demons out out to kill or their arch enemy, a vile half demon called Naraku," Japan seemed very miffed to have to talk about this half-demon, "and eventually, they destroyed him and his followers. Kagome chose to stay in the past for a while longer because she wanted to help change Japan for the better." his tone seemed to soften once again while talking about the young woman. "However, Kagome has told me about the going-ons of their seemingly friendly group.

"She discovered that her "friends" were mainly using her for their own gain. Of course, the young fox kit and the demon fire cat were innocent of this act; they viewed her as family." Germany's hand gripped the arm of his chair, turning his knuckles white. He knew this part unfortunately well. "But the half demon, the monk, and the half-demon were guilty as charged. The half-demon was using her to collect shards of the shattered Shikon jewel so that he could become stronger; a full blooded demon. The demon slayer, while a believing friend, merely wanted her brother back, as well as her family. She figured that Kagome would help her either force Naraku to bring them back to life through sorcery or do it herself. Neither happened. The monk wanted to train Kagome to possibly help him throughout his lifetime. He was cheap, but he had a heart. He needed to know about the demon slayer from her so he could woo the woman." Japan took a breath and looked out the window, his dark eyes portraying no emotion, as per usual.

"However, Kagome was quickly taken advantage of. The half demon used her love for him to make her complete his tasks, and even give more than half of her soul to the undead woman he truly loved, as sick and twisted a love it was. The houshi acted lewdly to her to spike the demon slayer's jealousy, and although it worked, the demon slayer felt she could hardly trust either of them. Their friendship would never be the same, as trust was hard to find in the days of war. The only two she remained on good terms with were the young kit and the demon cat.

"One gruesome day, after Kagome was injured and a liability to their team again, the half demon exploded in rage. He tried to murder her. While her team mates tried to stop him, it was of no use, and the half demon and Kagome battled it out. She still loved him at that time, and wouldn't- no, couldn't- hurt him, in fear he'd never forgive her. But when his real love appeared to help him, Kagome was furious. She, in an righteous rage, purified the half demon and his lover, regaining her soul and breaking her own heart at the same time. The demon slayer and monk were repulsed that she would turn on her own team mate, and severed ties with her. The kitsune child and demon cat stayed with her long enough for them to return to the village where the Bone Eater's well was located. And that was when she met me." Japan said, and sipped some of his tea. Despite his outer indifference, it was truly a hard thing to talk about. The tea melted the lump in his throat and he continued.

"I was visiting the village so I could meet the legendary Shikon No Miko that saved my lands from Naraku's, and many other demons', wrath. China, Kagome and I became fast friends, despite me seeming to be the age of a toddler and China's odd quirks. One day she became miserable, and cast herself into the Bone Eater's well. Yao and I had believed she'd committed suicide. But when it was explained to us, we waited. Five hundred years later, she reappeared and our friendship was renewed. But she never was that happy, or did not seem like it for a long, long time." Japan finished. He seemed exhausted and lonely.

Kagome... so she did have an affect on him? Well, she was that type of person, Germany mused. She was energetic and happy. She made friends easily and solidified them, she trusted easily. She was nice to people no matter who they were unless they really were _that _awful. And if she was gone for a long time, well, the evidence was right there in front of him; Japan, Italy, America, the Allies, everyone, even himself pretty much deflated.

She was just that spark of light that kept everything excited and moving, but, without her... that was the problematic part. Everything slowed, things were less cheerful, and everything just seemed dimmer without her. She was probably the greatest friend he'd ever had, besides that pasta-loving fool.

Speak of the devil, there was a lot of noise coming from the hallway, and both Japan and Germany turned towards it in time to see the door jump, as if someone had been shoved into it. The two both heard Italy's whine and sighed. What was he up to _now?_

Half a millisecond later, Italy burst through the door with an excited America, Italy and, _holy crap, _Canada was blabbering like America after the invention of texting (trust me, you don't know).

"GERMANY! JAPAN! Veeee, I have great news!" the little Italian man screamed and jumped on Germany's lap, making the latter wheeze.

"V-vhat is it?" he asked and Italy waved a letter in his face.

"KAGOME! Kagome sent us a letter, Germany! Vee, she has great news! Read it, Germany~~~!" he shouted happily, his bubbly smile in place. Germany stared at the nation wide-eyed.

"From Kagome? Vhat the- let me read it!" he said and snatched it from his hands, unfolding the lightly crumpled paper quickly and delicately, as if it would break.

"Yo! Kiku, Luddy, Kagome's coming back!" America shouted happily and Canada whooped, startling all of them.

_Dear Italy, or Japan, or whoever gets this first;_

_Hey guys! Sorry I spent so much time away! I was so relaxed that I forgot how much time went by...oops, ehe heh! Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I'd be home in a week! Surprise! Well, depending on what day you get this, I'm sending it on Saturday, so I'll be back on Saturday, too. I hope you guys didn't miss me too much and I thought about you guys a lot. I'll see you soon, okay? Byeee~~_

_-Kagome :)_

_P.S. You better hope to kami that no one went through my stuff while I was gone or else I SWEAR I'll kill you! (jk, but seriously, France! XP)_

Germany and Japan stared at the letter between them for a moment then looked at each other and grinned.

Germany smiled at Italy and ruffled his hair, to which he smiled jubilantly.

"This is wonderful news! Did zhe letter say vhere she vas?" he asked them, but they all replied negative.

That didn't matter, though. All that mattered was that Kagome was coming home.

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

…

**Kidding! You really thought I was gonna stop there? LOL!**

…

Kagome rushed over to where Holy Rome was sitting on a chair, ice bags in hand, decked out once again in her green maid outfit. She tsked at him when she sat down on the arm of his chair and looked him over, gently placing one ice bag on his hands and the other on his forehead. He sighed blissfully and Kagome rolled her eyes, though she still fussed over him some more.

"You know, I'ma not going to break." Holy Rome mumbled and looked at her with one eye, the other one being covered by the ice bag. She huffed.

"Well sorry for worrying! I mean, you did this to yourself, you know." she pouted for lack of excuse and held the other ice pack on his head for him.

She'd come back from shopping and found him, hands blocking his face, laying dejectedly on the chair. His fingers were bright red and sore and he had a killer headache, and she couldn't help but wonder what he'd done to get in that shape. Of course her motherly instinct had taken over. But she was still wondering what he'd done. It couldn't have been the party the night before, he hadn't touched a drink, and a hangover would be much worse- and that still didn't explain why his knuckles would ache so much.

While Kagome pondered about kami knows what, Holy Rome took the chance to glare at the grand piano across the room from him. Austria was a freaking _liar. _It was **too **to play the piano after years without practice! And composing an entire song wasn't a bucket of roses, either. Scratch that, it was; the songs were beautiful, like the petals, but the finger pains from hours of nonstop practice were the thorns.

By this rate, he'd never get the song finished in time. That part really sucked. And he was working so hard on it too, _and _he had to only play the piano while Kagome wasn't around or else she'd hear him! _Dio, _why hadn't he gone with a painting again? Oh yeah, he sucked at that too.

A chibi of himself stuck it's tongue out at him mentally. The last time he tried to woo a girl with art, it hadn't worked in the slightest, and look where he was now with said girl, er, guy.

Holy Rome snuck a glance up at Kagome. She was lost in thought, probably about going back in a few days. His heart gave a painful twinge and he flinched.

Suddenly something burned his throat and he coughed, but it only got worse. In a few minutes he was coughing violently and Kagome was rubbing circles around his back soothingly. He leaned forward, almost off the chair and she kept sending waves of holy energy through him. "C'mon, c'mon. Holy Rome, are you okay?" she mumbled and he nodded when he stopped coughing.

"Th-thank you." he muttered and fell back into the chair, forgetting that Kagome was there and she squeaked. He mumbled an apology tiredly as his eyelids drooped.

_'What was that all about?' _he thought _'I couldn't have overexerted myself that much on the piano. What could it have been?' _something crossed his mind and he jerked, startled. The last time he'd felt this bad, just a few days before, was when he was thinking so constantly about the hurt when Italy and he were young. But no... that couldn't possibly have anything to do with it! How could a memory make him hurt so bad?

But then again, it had been such a shock to have a part of his lifespan so twisted around like that. It would be traumatic for just about anybody. Was that really what was hurting him, trauma? But he used to be an empire, for dio's sake; every nation, country and empire went through some sort of pain, physical, mental, or otherwise. Why would it only hurt him?

Because his health had already been fading, he realized. And he was no longer an empire, he had nothing to help him. Nothing to fall back on that would reassure his health. But what about those others, right? Prussia and Rome... they were still alive. But they had it all. Prussia still had his brother. Rome still had his grandchildren, so practically nothing had changed for them, or they acted like it. He didn't have anyone besides Austria and Hungary from his past. France had undoubtedly moved on; the only thing he really cared about was women (and the occasional man, like that old British guy). Italy had forgotten about him, or at least hadn't mentioned him to Kagome at all. Romano had moved along with him. He and Romano had never really cared much for the other, though.

Holy Rome glanced at Kagome for a moment and his eyes drooped shut. He'd worn himself out from playing the piano, that's all. It was getting colder out, too, so he was probably getting a little temperature. Of course that's what it was. Trauma was a ridiculous excuse. He'd just worn himself out...

Kagome sighed and resigned herself to the chair that Sunday night. She moved them both around a little bit so she could rest Holy Rome's head on her chest. She idly patted his head and stared at the ceiling, her heart hurting, hoping that Holy Rome would be okay. In their time together that was coming to an end, she had come to care for him. She sincerely hoped that he would be okay. If she wasn't there and he started getting sick again, well, Kagome didn't like to think about it. It made her heart hurt more.

For now she let him rest against her. She would help him, because he needed it. And she would be there to help him whenever he needed it, she would make sure of that. She smiled down at Holy Rome and shifted so she was a little more comfortable. He was gentle, even asleep. His weight didn't even bother her.

So for the rest of the night, she stayed there to help him. Just like he knew she would.

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

MCD: Bahaha! The illness strikes again! Things are getting much more intense.. mweheheh :3

**Fk306 animelover- **Thank you, I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)

**Ant Carrying A Rubber Tree- **lol! I hope you liked my chapter, and I notice them a lot more than others *winkwink* XD (hrmm, not when you think about it in a Hetalia-verse ;)

**Maxeyn- **I know, I wish I was in Japan too :( lol, I like all of Amurica~ except Michigan. It's creepy D: haha glad you liked that chapter and I hope you liked this one :)

**GintsukiKyu- **Why thank you~

**Kakashixangela- **mweheheh, I'm planning it soon :)

**xXxOtAkU-444xXx- **Thank you :)

**ShiTsukisama- **0.o haha! Sounds like something I would do! And… b-babies? Uhhhhhh _*we're sorry, Marukaite is not here right now, if you would please lave a message after the tone… *_ eheh heh, uhhh, maybe in a sequel? That reminds me of an announcement I have to make…

**SweetHunniiBunnii- **Thank you very much :) I hope you liked this chapter!

There is an important announcement I have to make *sweats nervously* Uhh, this fanfic, I was only planning on making it a 12-15 chapter story! Eheh heh, surprise…?


	9. Tease

MCD: WaaaAaAaaa! Y I NO UPDATE SOONER?

Thanks to AnimeFreakAmanda for author faveing! Maxeyn for author alerting and reviewing! SivlerMidnightKitten for story alerting, reviewing, story faveing, and author alerting! CrescentMelody for story alerting and reviewing! Youkai Ninja Of The Night for reviewing! Punkish furball for author faveing! Kitsune Hime 99 for story faveing and your AWESOME review! ShiTsukisama for reviewing…about babies XD Kagome-inu for story alerting! ShinuKyou for author faveing! xXxOtAkU-444xXx for reviewing! Foxelemental for story alerting! MyLovelyRabbit for reviewing! Broena for story-faveing! GintsukiKyu for reviewing! SweetHunniiBunnii for reviewing! Fk306 animelover for reviewing! Bunny.W.K. for reviewing! Mah friend UnstableFable for reviewing! Watergoddesskasey for reviewing! Kedakumi for reviewing! Bumblebeecamaro38 for reviewing! Lehtargic spaz for reviewing, story/athour alerting and story/author faveing! Arekushisu Atsuhiko for story faveing! GinstukiKyu for story faveing!

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**Where Is Home**

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It was a peaceful morning in the Austrian manor, the sun shining like gold off of every surface, the Gilbird singing peacefully, spying on _prissy_ Roderich for his AWESOME master, the flowers blooming beautifully in the morning light…

Until two bloodcurdling screams were heard, one right after the other, followed by loud thumps. Austria snapped up, his forgotten glasses flying off of his face at a million miles an hour, "Wuh!"

Hungary's eyes snapped open and turned red, her frying pan instantly in hand, and somehow fully dressed. She ran into the room she heard the commotion from at mach 12, screaming.

"PRUSSIAA!"

She screeched to a halt at the sight of her employee and ex-charge/son, lying on the floor with tangled limbs and red faces. And this was her oh so elegant exclamation;

"What the fuck…?" she mumbled, scratching her head, frying pan leaning against the floor. Kagome blushed even redder than before, if possible, and quickly pushed Holy Rome's head off of her stomach. He quickly righted himself so that he wouldn't smack his face on the floor, only to end up putting his hand on Kagome's thigh.

Before Kagome smacked him, Hungary heard him mutter, "Why me..?"

Austria rushed into the room in only his pajamas and robe, glasses dismantled on his face. "What's going on?"

Hungary snorted, twirling her frying pan around as if it were a lock of her hair. "Nice of you to finally join us."

Kagome huffed, embarrassed, and glared at Holy Rome. The poor ex-country was on the brink of unconsciousness and his eyes were weird black swirls...

"Oh c'mon, I didn't hit you that hard. Stop acting weak." she muttered and turned away, blushing still. Holy Rome opened his eyes and pouted playfully, propping himself up on his elbows.

"I now have a reason to hata Mondays." he joked and she broke into a smile. She couldn't stay mad at him.

Hungary barely held back a squeal and wiggled her eyebrows at Austria, who was still half-asleep. He snorted, wrapped his robe tighter around his waist and spoke. "Well, now that we are all up, might as well get breakfast started, right?"

Hungary, always a quick thinker, nodded and latched herself onto Roderich's arm. She then proceeded to drag him towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, let's get _going_!" she nodded towards the two and grinned, and Austria sighed. They disappeared through the door.

Kagome stared at the door for a minute and turned to Holy Rome.

"They act weird. Do you think they're up to something?" Holy Rome rolled his eyes.

"Knowing them, they probably _ara _planning something." He grumbled and got to his feet. He offered her a hand and pulled her up, a little closer to him than was appropriate, but neither seemed to notice- or didn't care. Kagome blushed in embarrassment and gently touched the red mark on his face with her unoccupied hand. "Sorry I slapped you... I didn't mean it."

Holy Rome looked back at Kagome, at the apologetic concern in her eyes. He touched the hand on his cheek.

"It'sa alright. I know you didn't." he replied and smiled, making Kagome's face light up pink.

"U-um, well, do you want to get something to eat now?" she mumbled shyly and looked away from him. Holy Rome chuckled.

"Sure." he said simply and gently pulled her with him to the dining room, where Hungary was busy planning a secret wedding and Austria just zoned out, eating his waffles. They didn't realize that their hands had become intertwined until Hungary teased them.

_**#~#~#**_

_**A few hours later...**_

_**#~#~#**_

Holy Rome stuck his hat-topped head out of his doorway and looked left, right, then left again. He quickly scurried out of his room and down the hall, into the late-night darkness, towards Austria's music room.

While he enjoyed Kagome's company greatly, the song he was writing absolutely _had _to be kept a secret. He held back the little voice that sing-songed that he was writing a song just for her, his Kagome.

He blushed and shook his head, although it did have a nice ring to it... gah! What was he talking about! It wasn't like that...at least he didn't _think _so...

All kidding aside, Holy Rome unlocked the door (and yes, before you ask, Austria is that paranoid about his instruments) and stepped inside. He swiftly stepped to the piano and sat down, glad that Austria's piano bench didn't creak because it was in such good condition.

He pressed a finger to the first key gently, testing the noise level. Not much. Perfect.

He started on the first few notes, low, high, higher, higher-

"Holy Rome, I didn't know you played piano!" a voice shouted behind him and he jumped, startled, making an odd sound on said instrument (y'know, when you hit a bunch of random keys at once?). Whipping around, his heart skipped a beat. Kagome was standing right there in the doorway, in only a baggy t-shirt and shorts, her pajamas. She rubbed her eye but still stared at him, half asleep.

"Uhhh... I, I don't! Well, not really..." he supplied a little too hastily.

"But, then what are you doing up this late with the piano?" she mumbled and padded towards him, her bare feet making little slapping noises on the cold tile. He gulped and shuffled the music sheets with her song on it around, hoping she didn't know how to read the notes.

Slowly she shuffled behind him and rested her head gently on his shoulder, looking over it at the piano and papers.

"What song is this?" she mumbled in his ear. Her warm breath on his ear made him flush.

"I-It's a very special song, thata Roderich taught me...?" he supplied uneasily, but Kagome detected no lies in her half-asleep state. She smiled and plopped onto the piano bench next to Holy Rome, pressing one of the high keys.

"Twinkle twinkle, little star…" she giggled and slowly pressed a few keys, playing an off-tune version of the song.

Holy Rome smiled gently and put his arm around Kagome's back, gently grabbing her hand. He grabbed her other hand with his and together they played a few notes correctly.

"This isa how you do it," he murmured quietly in her ear and hummed. Kagome smiled and scooted closer to Holy Rome.

"Twinkle twinkle, little star…" he sang softly, "How I wonder wherea you are."

Kagome giggled at his childish singing and leaned her head on his shoulder. She easily completed the song with him and then shifted his hands off of hers. Cautiously, she played a simple version of Chopsticks and now Holy Rome smiled.

After a few minutes, Kagome yawned. Holy Rome chuckled softly as she blinked her half-lidded eyes, seeming childlike.

Turning to Holy Rome, something seemed to come to her.

"Is this why you were so tired? Were you playing a lotta piano that one day?" she mumbled questioningly and Holy Rome froze.

_What shoulda I tell her? _He thought as she waited for an answer. _I can'ta just tell her I was composing a song for her! _Thinking fast, Holy Rome nodded.

"Yes, actually, I was." Kagome's eyes widened, surprised she was right. "Buta you can't tell anybody. It's a very special song, but it's supposed to be a secret." Kagome nodded in understanding. Holy Rome used his hand and brought a finger to his lips, making a 'shush' gesture. Kagome mimicked him and winked.

A few minutes later, Kagome drifted lazily to sleep on Holy Rome's shoulder. Realizing this, Holy Rome chuckled, then swung his feet around the piano bench. Moving quietly so as to not wake up the sleeping woman, he gently picked her up, holding her bridal style. He pushed through the doors to the music room and down the moonlit corridor until he came to Kagome's room. He let go of Kagome a little, just enough to turn the knob, and pushed the door open with his back.

The only noise was the swishing of Holy Rome's black coat and the sheets when Holy Rome set Kagome down. Working quickly, he laid her head against the pillows and pulled the light blankets over her scantly-clad form.

Holy Rome couldn't help but take a moment to admire the sleeping woman. When the moonlight reflected off of her glossy black hair and glowed on her pale skin like that, one couldn't help but think she was some sort of angel. Holy Rome instantly realized this and stayed by her bedside, bent down on one knee. He couldn't seem to move, as if he was hypnotized by the sight.

Shaking his head a moment, he stood up, but still gazed at her, utterly mesmerized. Slowly, he bent over her until he was no more than a mere inch from her face. His breath made her bangs swish and she stirred, but didn't wake.

Holy Rome's eyes were half lidded and he stared at Kagome's pale lips and calm face. Who would've known the energetic girl could look so peaceful? How could anyone have hurt such a beautiful girl? He blinked and was suddenly focused on her lips. Had… had she ever... _kissed _anyone? She was such a pure-hearted person…

As if coming to his senses, Holy Rome pulled back slightly and blushed, a rose hue covering his cheeks. What was he thinking! What an odd thing to do. And to such a good friend, nonetheless. But…

Unable to resist, Holy Rome bent down and gently kissed Kagome's forehead. He pulled back barely a centimeter and gave a small smile, a blush still staining his cheeks, though darker.

"Good night, my little Kagome…" he murmured and pulled away, his black cape fluttering behind him magically as he strode out the door. When the click of the door resounded throughout the room, Kagome's eyes fluttered open, though she mostly asleep. She stared at the ceiling for a moment. The tingles of contact still sparked on her forehead. She could've sworn… But no, she thought, her dream was just very realistic. The shining knight with no name had kissed her on the forehead… and she woke up out of shock…

Kagome smiled and settled back down to sleep, wondering who her shining knight was.

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

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MCD: MUWAHAHA! I LURVE YEW GAIS~

But you probably hate me for teasing you so much XD Wai I no update? "Well, you know, there was this and that… and that and there was that thing… you know I don'treally remember." /SHOT for (sorta) quoting Ancient Rome and 'cos I'm Italian~!


	10. Truth

MCD: Teehee, can't waste space up here this time! Thanks for reviewing CrescentMelody! Watergoddesskasey for reviewing! Kitsune Hime 99 for author alerting and faveing, and reviewing (Nooo, don't die! .)! A Lazy Reader for reviewing! Bumblebeecamaro38 for reviewing! Bunny W.K. For your cute review~! AnimeFreakAmanda for reviewing! Ant Carrying A Rubber Tree (god I love that name XD) for reviewing! Sess8Kag for story alerting! ShiTsukisama for reviewing- and yes, I have decided to make a sequel when I'm done with this. With babies. Just 'cos you asked! CrackPairsAreMyMuse for story faveing and reviewing! xXxOtAkU-444xXx for reviewing! Wol1f3 for story faveing! Wolf13 for story faveing! 0m3ga's Z3r0 for story alerting! Catlover123456789 for story alerting, faveing, and author alerting! Whitmidnightfox for author alerting! Gloriana The Younger for story alerting! And finally, **SweetHunniiBunnii** for reviewing! **SweetHunniiBunnii**, scroll down to the bottom of the page and review your reply or pm me, you and your freaking AWESOMENESS!

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**Where Is Home**

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Holy Rome blinked and cracked open his eyes. What day was it again...? Tuesday, right? He groaned, his fingers aching and head ready to explode. With a huff, he smushed his head into his pillow, willing the daylight to go away and stop being so damn _annoying_.

Then the events of the night before came rushing back to his sleep-clouded mind.

With a jolt, his face heated up and he fell out of the bed. Mentally he cursed gravity, vocally he moaned in pain, physically... he just _hurt_. What a way to start the day.

His face still flushed, he buried his face in his hands. What had he done? ! It was **not **normal to kiss a best friend goodnight! Or was it? Holy Rome sighed in confusion and rubbed his face. He knew he probably shouldn't have done it. It wasn't right. Kagome was his best friend. Yet, he couldn't even begin to describe the pure happiness that had sped through his veins-! It was like some unknown tension in his gut, a burden he carried without knowing, had suddenly been disposed of. The fluttery joy that had made him feel like a feather. All that from a tiny kiss goodnight…? How could that be-…

…

...

**...**

Holy Rome's entire mind went blank. Mechanically, he went to the bathroom connected to his room and looked in the mirror. And looked. For a long time, that was all he did, just stared. When he finally spoke, his voice croaked with uncertainty and his words were barely intelligible. But now that he'd said it out loud… it sort of made sense…

"I love her…" with those three words, his heart pounded, his stomach clenched and he suddenly ached, not from his short fall, but from an indescribable kind of realization and want.

He wanted to hold her. He wanted to touch her glossy black hair. He wanted to smile with her, he wanted to laugh, hang out, play the piano, do _anything _just to bewith Kagome… He even wanted to _kiss _her again. Blinking so as to clear his head, he, in the back of his mind, wondered how or why or when it had happened. Could it have been just last night, while they were playing piano? No, it probably started before that, when she took him shopping like the lunatic she was. Or maybe they were destined for such a thing, and that's why he had hugged her that first day returning home from his miserable wanderings? Sighing, Holy Rome removed his whitened knuckles from the grip on the sink's lip and ran them through his messy blonde hair.

Well _damn. _This was certainly an odd morning, he thought as he stared into the mirror with clear blue eyes.

This biggest question now was… how was he going to tell _Kagome?_

**#~~#**

Kagome stared at her sandwich. It was lunchtime but she didn't feel hungry at all, not even after all the work she'd put in this morning. With a sigh, she cast a glance towards the large doors to the hallway once again, the worry starting to bug her with such intensity that she was practically squirming.

Austria cleared his throat and Kagome jumped, caught off guard. With a stern glare that a father would use on a daughter, he raised an eye at the young maid and crossed his arms, tafelspitz forgotten.

"What's the matter with you, Kagome? You haven't touched your meal at all," he asked and frowned. He might've sounded strict, but he was honestly a little bit worried. Kagome smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry, It's just that I feel distracted for some reason." She smiled and Hungary bit back a small grin.

"Is it because Holy Rome hasn't shown up to eat yet?" she asked slyly, but the hidden meaning went right over Kagome's head. She blinked and then nodded, slowly at first then a little bit faster.

"Well, yeah! I mean, I haven't seen him at all yet and half the day's gone by…" Kagome said, a hint of worry evident in her tone. Hungary nodded.

"Yes, actually, I haven't seen him, either, now that you mention it." She agreed and the girls shared a worried glance. Austria scoffed.

"Please, calm down. He's probably-" Roderich was cut off by the creak of the door opening slowly. Lo and behold, holy Rome moved through the large wooden doors and shuffled uncomfortably, staring to his side instead of at the room's inhabitants. Kagome stood up from her seat and smiled at Holy Rome, whom still didn't look at her.

"There you are! We were getting worried. What's up?" she asked casually, walking over to him. Holy Rome's face lit up like a Christmas tree (oh, wait, I'm American. An X-mas tree) the moment he looked at her, and it would be obvious to say that Hungary knew exactly what was going on. With a stifled giggle, the Hungarian practically sprang out of her seat and grabbed both of their hands, unceremoniously dragging them back to the table.

"Yes, do tell, Holy Rome, why did you take so long to join us?" the romantically obsessed woman asked, a knowing shine in her eyes as she pushed Kagome's chair back in behind her. Holy Rome gulped. _How does she know these things! ?_

Holy Rome paused in his nervous shuffle toward the kitchen, caught in a stare-down with the woman he had come to call mother.

"Er, my alarm clock... ita didn't go off, then I took a long shower..." he muttered lamely and you could see by the way Hungary's lips pursed that she saw straight through the excuse.

"Oh, I'll have to take a look at the clock then," Roderich added to the conversation, oblivious to the underlying meaning. "I mean, you can't throw it out yet, it's probably still good." Hungary snorted softly at her ex's stinginess.

"Alright then, well, go make yourself some lunch. Can't have you going hungry now, can I?" Hungary motioned towards the kitchen, but Holy Rome knew he wasn't out of the woods just yet.

_**#~~#**_

_**Narrator poll! Who thinks Hungary is going weasel the truth out of Holy Rome? (HERPY DERP DERP NICE OF ME TO GIVE IT AWAY HUH?)**_

_**#~~#**_

Holy Rome was walking through the hallways of Austria's house like any normal person- or country, in this case- would, then suddenly-

WHAM.

Holy Rome gagged as something pulled on his cape and dragged him into the closet. A light was turned on and Holy Rome blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting. Hungary grinned excitedly back at him.

Just _perfect._

"Holy Rooomeee," she sing-songed and crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot. "You have some e'splaining to do~!"

Holy Rome groaned. "I tolda you, my alarm clock didn't go off anda then I had to taka a shower-" Hungary poked his forehead.

"Not that!" she hissed, impatient. "You know what I'm talking about. Don't you? If you don't then I'm sorry but you're stupid. I mean it. I need to know. Like, I legit NEED to-" Holy Rome slapped a hand to the hyper woman's mouth.

"Dio mio, Hungary! Sincea when did you talka this much?" Holy Rome groaned and Hungary rolled her eyes.

"Trrr mrrrr evvrrrfnn!" Hungary growled and laughed maniacally somehow. She licked Holy Rome's hand and he yelped, pulling back with a sour expression planted om his face. He stared at the romance-crazed woman for a moment then sighed defeatedly.

"You're crazy."

"I know. Now tell meee!" she whined. Holy Rome snorted at her and leaned against the wall of the closet. He crossed his arms and looked away from his mother figure. Hungary sat down on a pile of shoe boxes and rested her head on her hands. Clearly she was ready to stay there for a while if necessary.

"I...it was last night, something happened. Or perhaps longer, farther back, it started, but I...It's complicated, but the first time-no, when I might've begun..." Holy Rome groaned and dropped his face into his hands as his feelings and words became scrambled. It was too hard to describe the way he was feeling. Not simply happiness, not just joy. He wasn't _lusting _for her, but he still wanted her touch. No way it was a crush, or the feelings of a sibling. It was..._strong_. Strong, and powerful, and sometimes painful. His heart ached at moments when he gazed at her, hoping, thinking, _"what-if"_ing. That wasn't even a _word_ but he still felt it!

Hungary smiled, not a fan-crazed one, not one full of mischief, but a reminiscent one. Ah, she could remember the days when she felt like Holy Rome! I mean, not like a boy, later than that. Like when she was young(er) and in love with Roderich. Or even way farther back, to a time that she kept buried and broken in the back of her mind, when she harbored a crush on the ever-annoying Prussia.

This was going to take a while.

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

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**MCD: **Damn, why did that take so long? Oh kill me for loving the fluff XP LOL PRUHUN SHIPPER MOOD~

Ok, But in all seriousness…

KESESESE! FUSOSOSOSO! OHONHONHONHONHON! This, my friends, is the congratulate laughs of awesomeness!

**SweetHunniiBunnii, ****congradimaflacayshuns!*****pops ****streamers***You are my 100th reviewer! I don't know if anybody else does this this, but what the hell, I've always been different~! **SweetHunniiBunnii,**since you are the awesome 100, I shall grant you a gift! *sprinkles England's stolen fairy dust everywhere* You **A)**Get to choose the theme for the next chapter of Where Is Home! Woohoo~! Try not to make it too kinky, mkay? ;D AND **B)**You get to request a pairing for a oneshot! It could be Kag/Prussia, Inu/America, hell, it could be Kikyo/Russia/SweetHunniiBunnii for all I care! **It****'****s ****your ****prize, ****so ****make ****the ****most ****of ****it~!**

HAHAHAHA! DUDE, IS YOUR MIND BLOWN YET? CHECK IT COOL MAN! But you need to reply! Like, you could totes pm me or liek, review~ Don't take too long! Ta ta~! Au revoir! Guten nacht- holy crap I spelled this right the first time-! Happy Hanukah! MUDKIPS! Adios! Auf wiedersehen! Sayonara! Spell fails are fails!


	11. Jealous

MCD: I'm so terrible for not updating in like, forever… *falls on hands and knees* But you guys stayed with me even though I'm such a jerk-! *waterfall tears of happiness* I WON'T LET YOU DOWN!

Thanks to KitsuneHime99 for reviewing! Bruder-aus-Osten-und-Western (whose name is extremely awsome) for reviewing! Watergoddesskasey for reviewing! SweetHunniBunnii for reviewing and I'm glad you like your prize~! 7 for story alerting! Ant-Carrying-A-Rubber-Tree for reviewing with like a totes Polish accent! Bumblebeecamaro38 for reviewing! GintsukiKyu for reviewing! AnimeFreakAmanda for reviewing! Kuroi MoonKingdom for story favoriting/alerting and reviewing, also with like, a totally cool Polish accent! I've started a trend!*pets a pony* Kolibris for story faveing! AwesomeNerdPlunnieeCx for story faveing/alerting! ShiTsukisama for reviewing! xXxOtaku-444xXx for reviewing! LawietKitty for story alerting! Givemecookies for story alerting! Pixxie OR Alex for story alerting! Goddessmorrigan for story faveing! Lovemiko1996 for story faveing/alerting! Cursedinu815 for story faveing! Ruler of the ice dragons for story faveing! Winter's Hime for story faveing! Writer-in-progress-94 for story faveing! Your conscience speaking for story alerting! HotaruKitsune for story alerting! Silver Fox 22000 for story alerting! Cordytheturtle (who has an entertaining username, if I say so myself) for story and author faveing, story and author alerting! And moonlight19711 for story faveing and story alerting! DAMN this is long *drowns in reviewer love*

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**Where Is Home**

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It was Wednesday, Kagome thought as she swept the hallway by Roderich's piano room. She tucked a stray strand of ebony hair behind her ear under the handkerchief and smiled a little at the thought of the piano room. She couldn't remember most of the music that Holy Rome had played that one night, just a few notes, but she still knew it was a very sweet song. But as she turned to clean out the closet behind her, she couldn't help but cringe. Closets were now officially weird places...

_**#~~#**_

_Kagome was just doing her job, humming slightly as she swept the floors in this part of Roderich's mansion. She twirled around in her adorable green maid dress and emptied the pan of dirt into the garbage can behind her and smiled at the small length of hallway she had left to do._

_She paused in her sweeping. What was that? She frowned, looking around the hallway. She could've sworn she heard voices a second ago..._

"_...no! I-"_

_There! She heard it again! It was a male's voice. She slowly crept towards the closet closest to her and pressed her ear to the wood._

"_Ahhhhhh~ you are so cute when you blush like that~"_

"_Sh-shutup...!" the sound of cloth rustling, "A-ah! Hungary, n-no-!"_

_A creepy giggly floated eerily and she could hear the person, whom she now identified as Holy Rome, give a girly shriek. Eyes wide in shock, Kagome jumped away from the door and immediately swung open the door._

_...One embarrassed shout later and an angry Holy Rome was on the floor, beneath a blushing Hungary._

"_I thought I locked the door so that we-we..." Holy Rome faltered when he looked past his mother-figure's flushed face to stare up at the disturbed expression that was Kagome's._

_Holy Rome stared at Kagome, then looked at the compromising position he and Hungary were in._

_...Aw **shit. **_

_He shoved Hungary off of himself- a little harshly, but I guess you can sense his distress- and flipped onto his hands and knees, staring up pleadingly into Kagome's eyes._

"_Pleasa! It'sa not what you think! I'ma not-" Kagome seemingly slid away from him, a confused and extremely disturbed look plastered to her face. "-No!, Kagomeeeee!" he cried, hand outstretched to her retreating figure._

_A waterfall of tears cascaded goofily down his cheeks as he sat in a far corner, having what can only be described as a "Tamaki-Suou-Emo-Moment"._

"_Why did this have to happen..." he muttered, all color leaving his form and a black cloud forming around him. "I'm not some sort of freaky pervert...why can't she understand...?" Hungary laughed nervously._

_**#~~#**_

Kagome shuddered once more and turned away from the closet. Of course, Holy Roman Empire had caught up with her and explained that he was just having some sort of private conversation with Hungary. She apologized and so did he.

But still... Kagome could tell she wouldn't be investigating anymore closets anytime soon... especially not with her experience with Francis...

_**#~~#**_

Holy Roman Empire was, officially, flipping shit.

He raced down his hallway, cape fluttering above the flame-marks he left on the floor after him. Wasting no time, he skidded to a halt in front of his room and threw open the door.

No sign of Kagome there, either.

Now, of course he was aware that _his _room wasn't the first place Kagome would be, but he'd already checked everywhere else; the living room, the kitchen, the courtyard, the music room, Kagome's, Hungary's and even Roderich's personal rooms, in the branches of all the trees, the town, behind the couches, underneath the beds, in the dungeon (which was supposed to stay a secret, dammit!), in the closets, _literally_ **everywhere. **It had been **hours **since he'd seen her and it was starting to get dark.

And that was why he was nearly ripping his hair out in frustration. Kagome was missing! Kagome was nowhere- well, nowhere easily assessable in the community- and she hadn't even bothered to tell him that she might've been going somewhere! This both annoyed and hurt him. _Damn emotions, _he thought as he got increasingly antsy. Suddenly he stopped short, a shocking and hurtful thought buzzing through his mind.

_What if Kagome went back to the other countries? _Holy Rome thought for a moment. It was only Wednesday. She was leaving on Saturday, not Wednesday. Or had she been lying? What if She'd left because she hadn't really forgiven and accepted his explanation of the stupid "Closet Incident"? Then she'd think he really _was _a freaky incestuous pervert! She must hate him if she left so early! Or what if one of the other countries found out where she was by some stroke of luck and stolen her away while he wasn't aware?

An image of France, complete with creepy rape face and perverse laugh came into mind, and France had his arms wrapped tightly around a crying Kagome as he dragged her away.

Fear gripped his gut and throat as he sped off again, this time fueled by rage. He had to find and help Kagome! She wouldn't be able to survive with the _real _freaks and perverts out there! He stalked towards the front door, a dark and malicious aura surrounding him while he continued on his small quest.

He reached for the door knob, ready to face the world and tear it apart if he had to when he heard a giggle from the other side. He froze. A very feminine giggle it was. Another giggle and Holy Rome blinked.

"Thanks for taking me, Roderich! It was amazing!" the now-identified voice of Kagome resonated through the door and Holy Rome frowned, still in his frozen position. Kagome and Austria? What?

"You're very welcome, Kagome. I'm glad you liked it." he could almost hear the proud smile in Austria's voice. "I certainly enjoyed it." _another _giggle? What the heck was he talking about?

The door knob jiggled and Holy Rome blinked down at it, just now realizing he was in the way. He jumped back and ran, hiding behind the corner of the hallway. He heard the door open and shoes clicked on the wooden floor. He fisted his fingers into his cape, to drag it behind the wall with him, _definitely _not because he was feeling strange for some unknown reason...

PFFFT—

He heard the door open again and they stepped into the corridor.

"Thanks again for taking me to your concert, Roderich. I really loved your music!" he heard shuffling and figured that Austria had hung up their coats-

"Th-thank you, Kago-gome!" he heard the Austrian stutter and frowned. Austria was refined and poised, never the type to stutter uncertainly. _What the heck? _Holy Rome peeked out from around the corner and his heart lodged itself in his throat, a sick feeling sliding around it-

Kagome was hugging Austria, her eyes closed blissfully, head resting on his chest. Roderich was staring down at her incredulously, a wild flush on his cheeks, but a gentle smile slowly soothed his features. He slowly wrapped his arms around the young Asian woman and hugged her lightly, closing his eyes and resting his chin on her head. The light from the bulb above the outside of the door played on the disturbed, ridged glass and lit up their background, their forms outlined by the gentle golden light, since they hadn't yet turned on the lamp by the doorway…

Holy Rome felt pain prickle through his fingers and winced, looking down at them. "…!" he stared, shocked at the –what could only be described as- claw marks in the wood of the wall and the small splinters pricking into his skin, dyed red with the blood they drew. He removed them from the wall, flinching at the sudden pain and pulled his cloak around him, hiding them from sight.

As he walked away from the tender scene, he willed away the betrayed, painful sensation in his chest that constricted his heart and teased his thoughts. He couldn't **possibly **be… be _jealous_… of his father figure? He shook the thought away, black hat swaying intone with his short blond locks, but it persisted angrily in his mind, until he was forced to push it away. There was absolutely no way he was jealous of his father-figure's and his love's feelings! But a portion of the jealousy still stirred within his heart, even when he lay down to bed that night, tossing and turning uncomfortably.

But with his thoughts running wild, he failed to realize that Kagome thought the same of Roderich as he did… a father figure…

He also missed the worried gaze she used when asking Elizaveta where he was when he didn't come to greet her a little while later…

/*/~Extra~/*/

Prussia barged noisily into his rival's house and laughed when no opposition met him.

"Kesesesese~!" he snickered and cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice- "YO, AUSTRIA! HOW 'BOUT I TAKE SILESIA AWAY FROM YOU AGAIN?" he shouted and laughed loudly, stalking through the house. He turned several corners and his glee rose as he continually walked free, the stuffy Austrian not appearing to yell at him and no frying pan meet his AWESOME silver locks. Gilbird trailed happily behind his awesome master, chirping with excitement.

He rounded a corner and strode confidently down the corridor, kicking open the elegant carved doors at the end of it, figuring Austria would be in his music room and-….

"Yo-" the proud Prussian faltered as he scanned the room with crimson eyes, his teasing glare fading. He simply stared for a moment then took a deep gulp of air, not realizing that he'd stopped breathing momentarily.

"Br….Bruder?" Gilbert murmured disbelievingly, already scratchy voice cracking in shock and longing. There, standing in front of him, blue eyes wide with surprise, was Holy Roman Empire. The Prussian raked his eyes up and down his form, scarcely believing his eyes. Same cloak, same eyes, same hair, same proud stature… Every detail was perfectly in order, besides the fact that he was taller and older-looking. A large, heated lump stuck itself in Prussia's throat and he didn't even acknowledge Gilbird fainting and falling to the floor.

"Nani? Woah- P-Prussia-san?" an incredulous voice piped up and he found himself staring at the figure popping up from behind the piano. His face heated up and his heart was tugged at as his eyes landed on Kagome. Although she was wearing that familiar green maid outfit and her hair was covered by the white kerchief, it was undoubtedly Kagome. Her captivating blue eyes widened and she tilted her head in question.

"What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here!" she said hurriedly, rushing over to him in worry. She was even more shocked when she saw tears prick the usually arrogant Prussian's eyes.

The two people he missed most… together in one room… it was like a dream… he never wanted it to end…!

**WHAM!**

Prussia's face contorted and he went cross-eyed before slumping to the ground, Hungary nodding in satisfaction behind him. She examined her frying pan for a moment and sighed.

"Damn him, that was too close…" she sighed and the two others sweat dropped- she didn't even care about the unconscious Prussian…

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

*sighs* I had to haul ass to get this finished before curfew… I'm sorry it took so long, but I just got a new laptop and I've been trying to work on it from there…


	12. Angst

MCD: I bet you guys didn't expect me to think anything of that extra I put in last chapter! BUWAHAHAHA~!

Thanks to Blackmoon Oniokami for reviewing! Watergoddesskasey for reviewing! HolyButterBalls (yet another username that makes me grin) for story faveing/alerting! LoneWolfSage for story faveing/alerting and reviewing! Jessica for reviewing! Kakashixangela for reviewing! AnimefreakAmanda for story faveing and reviewing! GinstukiKyu for reviewing! ShiTsukisama for reviewing! Ant-Carrying-A-Rubber-Tree for reviewing! SweetHunniiBunnii for reviewing! Bumblebeecamaro38 for reviewing! X-x-Kag-Xion-Uchiha-x-X for story faveing! Applejax for reviewing! xXxOtAkU-444xXx for reviewing! Nyxx96 for story faveing and reviewing!

I think you guys will find this chappy… _interesting_…*insert evil cackle of choice here*

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

Germany had a bad feeling about today.

He just knew something would screw up his wonderful Thursday morning. But yesterday he'd cleaned, scrubbed and waxed every square inch of his wonderful office. After all of the countries had paraded around here so messily, they'd screwed everything up. So, germany had taken a day to fix up his office. Which had turned obsessive in a matter of minutes. Now the whole room smelled like chemicals and he had to open the sparkling windows to let some fresh air in. it was a beautiful day out, and his wooden desk felt smooth and new under his fingers, his paperwork stacked neatly on his desk.

Yes, everything was in perfect harmony now. What could possibly go wrong?

Wrong thing to say.

Just as Germany was about to get up from his comfortable office chair, he heard thunder. Wait- that wasn't thunder. It was… footsteps? And crying… oh _Gott…_

"BRUDER!" a loud cry rang out through his house as Prussia burst through the door and made an America/Italy move, jumping across the whole room, over the desk and onto Germany's lap. Germany barely had time to cry out in pain before Prussia buried his face into his younger brother's shoulder, sobbing hysterically.

Germany very nearly growled in frustration. He spoke too soon; his _brother _could go wrong. He shook his head and grabbed Prussia's shoulders.

"Bruder. Bruder! Bruder, vhat's gotten into you? Have you finally-..gone…." Germany paused when Prussia pulled his blotchy-red face away from his blond brother's neck. His eyes were nearly completely red because he had been crying, there were tears running down his face, his normally pale face flushed red. He was a complete mess.

"Bruder…" Prussia's already scratchy voice cracked and he sobbed, falling onto his brother's chest. He nearly fell off of Germany's lap, but fortunately, his younger sibling caught him and lowered his gently. Germany sat on his knees and Prussia sat in between them, hugging Germany and holding onto him for dear life.

"Prussia, vhat's wrong?" Germany asked, extremely alarmed at this behavior. Prussia never let anything bother him. It had to be something _big _if it bothered the arrogant ex-nation to the point of breaking down.

Prussia blinked and a few stray tears drifted down his face. He suddenly shot up, grabbing Germany's collar and bringing him close.

"Bruder...bruder! Bruder and K-" his voice broke and he choked back a sob. "...Bruder Holy Rome and Kagome..." his lower lip wobbled and he buried his face in Germany'chest. Germany sat, frozen, a feeling of uneasiness washing over him. Holy Roman Empire? He hadn't heard about him since _forever_... and Kagome? Kagome _what?_

A tense aura of doom and depression filled the air as Prussia stopped crying enough to answer him.

"...I, I saw them, West... they're _dead…_"

_**#~~#**_

_**At Austria's house...**_

_**#~~#**_

Kagome shivered as a cold gust blew around her. She sneezed. She looked up at the sky, frowning. Something just didn't feel right about today… she could feelit in her bones.

Another cold wind blew her clothes around, the green dress billowing wildly. What was wrong with the weather today? It was supposed to be only a little bit cold. Kagome shivered again. The wind slowly picked up the pace, and soon Kagome and squeezed her eyes shut for fear of getting something blown in her eyes.

She felt her hair start to whip around and her eyes snapped open, reaching for her head, but it was too late-

"My-!" she cried out, reaching for the white handkerchief, but it was already flying through the air, far out of her reach. "Aww…" she jumped and turned around at the sound of a door banging open.

"Kagome, come get inside! It'sa much too cold out!" Holy Rome called to her and she readily ran to him. He pulled her inside and fussed over her, going so far as to give her his cloak and make her some hot chocolate. Kagome smiled and snuggled up to Holy Rome as they sat by Austria's fireplace under a blanket.

Maybe she had been wrong about today being bad... she sneezed again and Holy Rome pulled her a little bit closer.

_**#~~#**_

_**A few hours later, at Germany's house, many of the countries have converged in an emergency meeting**_

_**#~~#**_

"I'm telling you _dummkopf, _I'm not lying!" Prussia shouted at the scowling Brit.

An emergency meeting had been called to order about the matter of Kagome's possible death- and the Holy Roman Empire's possible reappearance/revival. Germany frowned at Prussia and it shadowed his face dangerously.

"_Preußische! _Calm yourself!" he ground out. Prussia whipped his head to glare at him, but did not make a snide remark to either country.

"_Mon ami, merci, _tell us again what 'appened." France intoned solemnly. Prussia snarled, barely managing to keep his composure.

"Ok, here we go, for the _last _time." Prussia spat and took a deep breath. The other countries watched him with morbid curiosity.

"I was at Austria's house, trying to mess around with him, like usual." Spain rolled his eyes. "And I was walking through his house- or at least I _think _I was, this might've been my life flashing before my eyes pr something. And I was walking through with Gilbird, I remember that. Now that I look back, I'm surprised Hungary-" Hungary twitched minutely at the mention of her name "-hadn't come out and hit me already, so I think I was either unconscious or partially dead at that point." Prussia took a calming breath.

"So I was in the hallway, totally undisturbed, when I walked through the hallway and opened the doors to Roddy's music room-" the nation's frowned deepened at this, "-and when I looked inside, I-I saw Ho-Holy Roman Empire." A tear pricked the nation's eye. He was glad Italy wasn't directly in his line of sight; he would've never been able to face him. But he could feel the stare practically pierce the back of his head. The circle of nations around him seemed to become even more intimidating, and the countries that had known the Holy Roman Empire tensed up.

"But that wasn't all. He was like, taller, like a teenager of a country, although he still had his same outfit..." Prussia was staring at the floor now, his memories of their short time together lingering. "By this time, Gilbird had fallen to the floor next to me. I didn't know if he was dead or something, 'cos I was too shocked to check. And then s-she said…" Prussia swallowed thickly. '_Nani? Woah- Prussia? What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here!'" _Prussia chose to switch his gaze to the ceiling, willing the tears to leak back into his eyes.

"And she walked up to me. It was definitely Kagome, same eyes, face, hair, everything- the only odd thing was that she was wearing one of Italy's old maid dresses." Prussia could feel the stares melt off of him, probably digging into Italy now. "I don't know why. But the next thing I know, I'm waking up on the side of the road somewhere with a bleeding bump on my head and Gilbird unconscious beside me. I'm positive that I nearly died and my body was dumped there by someone, for whatever reason. _Positive. _I can't see any other reason a dead man and a girl we don't even know where she's located would be talking to me. Why else would Kagome say that I shouldn't be there?" Prussia concluded and gave everyone a cold, hard look.

"I'm alive now, even though I technically don't have any land. But Kagome knew I was still alive and probably wouldn't die out so long as Germany still helped me. She wouldn't have expected me to die, and that's why she said I shouldn't be there." Prussia sighed, running a hand through his snowy white locks and closing his eyes, trying to take it all in.

The ones with disbelieving looks on their faces were America, England, Japan, France, and China. Russia, Germany, Spain, Canada, Austria, Hungary and shockingly, Italy and Romano stood solemnly, contemplating, not quite sure what to think. Sealand, who had been brought along by England because he refused to stay home, looked near tears.

"B-but, how did you figure all of this o-out?" the micronation sniffled, glaring at Prussia with defiant eyes, hope shining through the cloudy tears. Just a speck of doubt would make him too hopeful, Prussia thought. He could see some other countries nod in agreement, murmuring to themselves.

Prussia glanced at the small boy with tired crimson eyes. He slowly kneeled down to the small sailor's height and pet his head soothingly through the hat.

"Because, it's something that Kagome would know. You might not really understand it _kleine, _but Kagome has these special powers. She knows stuff, stuff that we couldn't predict even with technology..." he said quietly, yet it reverberated throughout the whole room. Sealand's features wobbled, but he couldn't keep it up for long. The young micronation jumped into the ex-nation's arms and latched onto his blue jacket, his sobs muffled by the fabric. The room went silent and the tense atmosphere was dark and heavy as Prussia hugged the boy, rubbing his back soothingly, tears threatening to spill out of his own eyes.

Germany abruptly stormed out of the room, followed closely by the morose forms that were the Italy brothers.

France bit his lower lips and hugged himself, trying to hold back tears. He looked away from the others shamefully, trying to stay strong. Canada stood by him, hugging Kumajiro tightly to his face, trying to block the tears. Hungary and Austria shared a pained look but walked out of the room with stoic expressions, mourning not the loss of the miko, but the terrible deceit they were forcing their friends to deal with.

Britain gently pried Sealand out of Prussia's grip and the micronation immediately latched to his older brother, still sobbing hysterically.

"There, there, now, Sealand." England murmured soothingly, but his tone was bitter as well. "These things happen when you become a country. That's why we don't make friends with humans…"

Japan had his head bent as tears rushed down his face at the loss of his friend, ally, hero, and crush. America, normally the one to cheer the other nations up, patted the island nation's back gently, trying to comfort the heartbroken nation. A teary-eyed, sniffling China joined him and the two ex-brothers joined in a rare hug. Russia stood not too far away and shared a look with America. For once they did not bicker but talked quietly between them, the death of their mutual friend a rare event for peace.

Prussia sat on his knees, slumped over and crying silently, cursing his terrible luck. He always endured so much pain… a tanned hand moved in front of his face and he looked up the arm, into the face of Spain. He wiped his runny nose on his sleeve noisily and grabbed his friend's hand. Spain pulled the ex-nation into a tight hug and they both shook with their silent, racking sobs.

But if only they knew the truth, that their little miko friend was far from dead and living comfortably, preparing to return to them soon…

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

MCD: Wooh! *wipes sweat from forehead* That took SO much longer than I intended it to! Now that I've got my own laptop, I have to keep switching and downloading and uploading documents over and over and over again, not to mention my account decided to be derpy and stop me from logging on! I apologize for the wait, and I hope you enjoyed this angsty chapter. Ah, also, kudos to AnimeFreakAmanda for practically stating what the chapter was going to be about in her review, even though she didn't expect it! You must have phsycic abilities or something :O LOL Good night, all~!


	13. Bittersweet

MCD: As a matter of fact, I have been dead for a while. God, I've gotten sick so many times in rapid succession and school has _not _helped…

_I'm so friggin sorry pleaaaaaase forgive me for the wait because im a fraking herpaderp and im losing literacy as i write thissuperfast! _Ugh, no words can describe how sorry i am for the FUCKING TWO MONTH WAITING PERIOD, but I also cannot express my thanks at the understanding that some of you have~! *tears up* ARIGATO GOZAIMASU!

Thanks for reviewing, Blackmoon OniOokami! MoonlightdemonKita for reviewing! xXxOtAkU-444xXx for reviewing! AnimeFreakAmanda for reviewing! GintsukiKyu for reviewing! Demon's purity for story alerting! Jessica for reviewing! SB01 for story alerting! DGL4life for story alerting! lonewolfgirl-sademo588 for story alerting, story faving and reviewing! Inoure for story faveing! Yoko Of The Masquerade for story alerting! Vic-Mignogna-is-awesome (THIS.) for story faveing and reviewing! Fallenangel11271 for author faveing! Faye silver for story alerting! Bumblebeecamaro38 for reviewing! Lifeclaw for story alerting! AnimeRoxMiWorld for story faveing/ alerting! Nightmaregirl11313 for story faveing! Akastuki's-princess93 for story faveing! GothKat2SlashFan for author faveing! Dragons redemption for story faveing! Moonlight Rein for story alerting! Mitsuki Hyassi for reviewing! (If I missed anybody, please tell me, I think I saved some to the wrong folder in my email :P )

Brightpaw32 (it was 32, right...?), I purposely ignored you right until the end so that I could say hi! … HI BRIGHTPAW~ I LURVE YOU, MY STALKER(S)~

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

"W-what?" Kagome stuttered as she was pulled along the hallway towards her own room.

"I _said, _you have to leave a bit early, dear," Hungary puffed out, opening her maid's door and flinging both herself and Kagome inside. Urgently, Hungary shoved Kagome in the direction of the closet.

"But, Eliza-!"

"Grab a suitcase from there, please?"

"What do you need a suitcase for?"

"I'm not the one whose going to need it, Kags." Kagome frowned, her brows furrowing at the indication.

"But…"

"The suitcase, dear."

Kagome sighed and relented. She opened up the closet and pulled a suitcase - her own, from when she had first come to Austria – down. Slowly, she walked back and laid it on the bed for Hungary, who had already started pulling Kagome's clothes out of her dresser. Kagome yelped when a sock smacked her in the face.

"Ok, what the heck!_?_" she exclaimed, squaring her stance defensively. Hungary blinked in surprise and turned away from the dresser, ceasing her fire of random garments.

"What the heck what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Elizaveta!" Kagome snapped, glaring at her frying pan-loving friend. "My flight back to France comes tomorrow! I was simply planning on packing then, and I distinctly remember telling you that… so why…?" Kagome trailed off with a hurt expression. Okay, so maybe she wasn't the best maid in the world, but that was no reason to kick her out early…

Hungary's stressed expression softened, her eyes becoming apologetic.

"Oh, Kagome… I didn't mean…" she sighed and smiled sadly, opening her arms. Kagome's tense posture slipped away at the gesture and she walked forward, hugging her friend, and being hugged tightly.

"I didn't mean that I wanted you out," Hungary sighed, her eyes downcast over Kagome's shoulder. She snorted softly. "If anything, I would rather have you stay here as a guest instead of a maid." _'Maybe even more than a guest, depending on Holy Rome's feelings…' _"But… something came up, hun." Hungary sighed. Kagome pulled away slightly to stare, confused, into her friend's vivid hazel eyes.

"What do you mean?" she asked softly, a little afraid of the answer. Had one of the countries found out her location and threatened to declare war if she wasn't returned? Or was it something less serious…? Hungary closed her eyes and shook her head, as if disappointed at her own silliness.

"The others… we had an emergency meeting yesterday, and it was about you… and Holy Roman Empire…" Kagome's eyes widened. What? How had the other countries found out that…? …Oh. Prussia…

Hungary bit her lower lip, trying to find the words to explain. Wow, was this awkward or what – trying to tell somebody that almost the whole world thought they were dead?

"I- Kagome, you… the-"

"Everyone thinks that you're dead." The soft voice caught Kagome's attention and she spun around. The voice also attracted Hungary's gaze and she sighed.

"Roderich…" Kagome's voice was soft as she stared at the sober Austrian. "..Is that true?"

"Yes…" Hungary sighed, pulling her handkerchief off of her head and running her hand through her long brown locks. "And Roddy and I just _know _that there will be hell to pay if we don't get you home fast enough to calm them down…" Hungary explained, her tone ever apologetic.

Kagome just blinked and shook her head, bewildered. She flopped onto the bed corner and stared at the ground with wide eyes, not believing it.

"They… they think that I'm… when I'm…?" Kagome mumbled to herself, frowning. She shook her head, then glanced up at the European nations. "Idiots." She chuckled, lightening the depressing mood in the room.

"Funny, that's the exact same thing I thought when Prussia held everyone in the meeting…" Hungary grinned and the two chuckled. Silence stretched throughout the room for a time, as no one had much to say.

Abruptly, Kagome stood up and pasted a grin on her face.

"Well, even though I'm leaving, at least I'll get to see everyone else after so long!" she grinned, looking back and forth to the two nations. "Elizaveta, would you please help me pack?" Hungary nodded, happy that her friend wasn't too upset with them.

"I'm going to tell Holy Rome that you're leaving early. You may come and say your farewells to him once you're finished here." He nodded, his posture regained, and Kagome giggled at the sudden change.

"Definitely."

Austria and Hungary were both glad that she was taking this so calmly.

_**#~#~#**_

_**Meanwhile…**_

_**#~#~#**_

"_What do you mean, 'SHE'SA LEAVING EARLY'!_?"

Austria flinched at his ward's shouts of terror. He sighed in irritation and gave the ex-nation a stern glare.

"Holy Rome! _Please _use an inside voice!" Austria's words came out strained, but they were ignored anyway.

"She'sa leaving early… But we hada at least one more day together! I hada so much planned, she could've seena my old territory _(Gah, would that have been too intimate!)_ or possibly even gone ona a celebratory (_well, not celebratory to me, but celebratory as in her return to her lands…)_ picnic, and we could've- AHH!" Holy Rome gasped loudly and stopped pacing. His hands flew to his hair in despair. "The _song! _I'ma not even finished witha the _song! _She'sa going to be _so _disappointed-!"

"Holy Rome!" Austria yelled, although he was more curious than angry at the moment. Seeing Holy Roman Empire act like this… well, let's just say it had been a long time. Too long. "What are you going on about?" he questioned, exasperated. Holy Rome's face turned a deep shade of red. Very interesting…

"I-I don'ta know whata you're talking about!" the ex-nation exclaimed, holding his head up high and turning towards the balcony windows in his room. A thin, defined eyebrow quirked on Austria's face. Orlly? Roderich called bull shit. **[1]**

"Well, never mind then. I just thought you had said something about a song for _Kagome…_" the ex-nation's shoulders stiffened at her name. Austria nearly smirked. Gotcha. "Oh well. I guess I'll just go and check my music room to see if there are any spare music sheets lying around that I didn't write… that I can just, you know, _throw away, use for a fire, _you know, that sort of thing." Austria shrugged and turned to walk out of the room-

"Y-you wouldn't dare…" Austria turned halfway to Holy Rome and raised an eyebrow in question: as if he didn't already know.

"Wouldn't dare to do vhat, Holy Roman Empire?" he blinked innocently – or, as innocently as a grown man can – and tilted his head.

Holy Rome's expression switched from flabbergasted to annoyed, then accusatory, as if he were about to shout at Austria, and then settled for a pouty glare.

"…I hata you so much." Holy Rome grumbled, turning away to hopefully hide his pink-tinted face.

"Careful now, you're starting to sound like Lovino."

"AMA NOT!"

_**#~#~#**_

_**And so Holy Rome was blackmailed into admitting his feelings for Kagome. Again. Right? I think so… woops! Off track, sorry~ Anyways, Roddy said that he wouldn't meddle, but when it was time for Kagome to actually head off…**_

_**#~#~#**_

Kagome took a deep breath and knocked on Holy Rome's room quietly. She swallowed thickly at the thought of leaving him behind. It stung worse than the thought of leaving both Hungary and Austria combined, because… well,-

The door opened and her concentration was broken.

"Hey, Holy- WAA!" she suddenly yelped as her wrist was grabbed and she was pulled behind the speeding ex-nation. She barely stopped herself from tripping and falling over, and he hadn't even looked back!

"H-Holy Rome, where are we-?" she panted, trying to match his pace, but it was in vain. He was determined on getting _somewhere _fast, obviously!

They cut a few corners – Kagome nearly smacking into the far walls as they turned – but in moments, they had made it to large, ornate wooden doors when they came to a sudden halt.

"Ahh~!" Kagome screamed as she slid on her shoes toward the door, since she had not stopped. However, Holy Rome pulled her back, using the leftover energy to spin her into his arms.

"W~waa…What was that all about, jerk!_?_" Kagome shouted at him dizzily, leaning on him for support. At such a close proximity, she could easily see that his face was a burning red- whether from the sprint or from their position, she couldn't tell.

"I- I didn'ta mean for that to happen!" he called out breathlessly, his arms stiffening around her. He moved to step back, but Kagome moaned in pain and grabbed his arms, preventing him from doing so.

"W-wait a sec," she hissed. The room was still spinning around her. "I gotta catch my breath…" she mumbled and leaned her head on his chest.

Holy Rome gulped and loosely wrapped his arms around her again, trying not to let himself have a heart attack. Looking around, he sighed happily when he saw no sign of his mother or father figures.

"Here," he mumbled, wrapping his arm around her abdomen and using his other hand to reach for the music room door. "Let'sa just get this over with…" he muttered, and they walked inside.

It was just like it always was; Giant, gaping windows arching upon the walls, allowing sunlight to stream pleasantly through the panes; various different instruments throughout the room, varied from native to foreign, from the taiko to the didgeridoo **[2].** However, one of them stood out among the rest – the baby grand piano sitting in the middle of the room, tuned to perfection and without a single speck of dust on its surface. The golden sunlight filtered through the windows and shone off of the gorgeous instrument that sat so proudly as a centerpiece.

Holy Rome thought he was going to be a little sick.

The overall perfection of the room threatened his rusty playing skills. Almost all of the instruments here (of course, not the taiko…) had been mastered by the master of the house. They seemed ominous somehow…

"Holy Rome? What are we doing here?" Kagome asked, looking around the room. It seemed a _lot _bigger now that they took notice of all the instruments.

Holy Rome glanced at Kagome and he took a deep breath. Slowly, he let his arm fall away from around her waist, from where it had settled, and gently touched her hand. She turned to look at him quickly, her face tinted pink, but his wary, sparkling blue eyes lingered on their hands. With a shy smile, she let her fingers lace into his. She giggled when she saw him blush deeply.

"L-let'sa…" he trailed, gulping nervously. Kagome smiled at him, finding how shy he was to be incredibly adorable. Tenderly, he tugged Kagome's hand and she followed him over to the grand piano. He sat on it and slowly pulled Kagome down, blushing fervently when their eyes met.

There was a moment of tense silence while Holy Rome pulled the music sheets out from under the lid of the piano and placed them on the music rack, and placed his fingers on the starting keys of the song.

"I…" he started, losing his confidence already. Kagome looked to him, her eyes curious. "…I wrote lyrics for the song… b-but I didn't hava any time-a to practice them…" he mumbled, ashamed.

"It's alright, Holy Rome." Kagome smiled and looked at the music sheets. She could somewhat understand how the lyrics went, even though she'd never played an instrument like this. "I'll sing them."

Holy Rome blushed an adorable shade of pink and ducked his head in thanks. He took a deep breath, replaced his fingers on the keys, and then-

Before Holy Rome could start, a soft sound of the violin was heard. The two occupants of the room looked around, but no one was around. Shaking his head, Holy Rome started to play, despite the slight distraction.

"When somebody loved me,  
>Everything was beautiful<br>Every hour we spent together lives within my heart. Oh, Holy Rome…" Kagome whispered, awed by the beauty of the soft, heartfelt music. The soft cadence rising form the piano rose up like the smell of a sweet pastry and flooded the room with pleasant hums. The accompanying violin made everything all the sweeter, if not bittersweet. Kagome looked to the lyrics.

"And when she was sad,  
>I was there to dry her tears<br>And when she was happy,  
>So was I…<br>When she loved me."

"Through the summer and the fall,  
>We had each other, that was all…<br>Just she and I together,  
>Like it was meant to be."<p>

They hadn't even had that long… only about a month and a half, but somehow… that was enough time for his feelings for her to form… and completely take him over.

"And when she was lonely,  
>I was there to comfort her.<br>And I knew that… she loved me."

Tears were in Kagome's eyes by now. This song was amazingly beautiful and sweet and just…just so~! It made Kagome's heart flutter erratically. She glanced over at Holy Rome, who had the expression of utter concentration… but also, peace, if not a little embarrassment. It was probably the happiest that she had seen him in a while.

"So the years went by…  
>I stayed the same.<br>But she began to drift away,  
>I was left alone.<br>Still I waited for the day…  
>When she'd say I will always love you…"<p>

Holy Rome broke into a small sweat as he played. He was infinitely nervous. Not even the sweet, adoring smile shining on Kagome's beautiful face could ease him now.

This… this part, it had been more about his past than the present… it seemed so awkward right now, to have his present love singing about his old love… but….

Holy Rome stole a glance at Kagome and his fingers nearly slipped off of the keys. A sparkling tear was running down the side of her face, shining from the light coming from the windows. She looked choked up, as if she were about to cry. Holy Rome's throat tightened and he felt what she looked like. Depressed. Depressed and disappointed… had she really not liked the song that much…? Still, he pressed on for the last few notes.

"Lonely and forgotten,  
>I'd never thought she'd look my way.<br>And she smiled at me and held me, just like she used to do.  
>Like she loved me…<p>

When she loved me.

When somebody loved me, everything was beautiful.  
>Every hour we spent together, lives within my heart…<br>When she… loved… _me_."

With that, the song came to a close, and though the last few notes hummed through the room for a few seconds afterward, there was a tense silence from its originators. Holy Rome's fingers lingered on the keys, as if he wanted to play another song, one that would make her happy. Or possibly redo the first one, to see why she would be so morose about it… but he couldn't find it in him to even think about playing another song for the rest of his life.

Judging by the tears sparkling in her watery sapphire eyes, he had failed… and that was enough to make him want to go and sleep for the rest of his life. Or crawl in a hole and sob for a good couple of hours. Yeah, that sounded good right about now.

"Holy Rome…" he winced at her watery tone and had barely turned to look at her when he was nearly tackled in a hug. He grunted at the force, but blinked in shock, staring worriedly at the little Japanese woman.

"H-Holy Rome… that was beautiful…" Kagome tightened her grip around his chest, and Holy Rome felt his gaze soften. With a small, blissful smile, he gently wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes, sighing in content.

Unknowingly, the ex-nation had taken her tears the wrong way. They were most definitely not tears of disgust, but tears of joy and happiness, and also appreciation. Joy that this beautiful song had been dedicated to her and made for her by such a dear friend. Happiness because there was the possibility of a reason for this wonderful gift…one that she would be willing to try. And appreciation because it was no easy feat to make something so heartfelt and of this beautiful caliber. Really, she appreciated everything he did for her. She was so happy to have a friend like Holy Rome…

The room no longer felt cold and ominous, but warmed by the sunlight that glowed upon them. The warmth of the hug and the emotions packed into it wafted around the room, creating a sense of belonging. And truly, they did – one heartbroken soul to another, from years long past, a beauty long forgotten and unrewarded. The beauty of simply loving. Truthfully, they were an odd pair, but they melded together to create something more beautiful than all the riches of the world could buy.

It seemed as though years of worry and pain melted away from the ex-nation's heart; anyone could see this by the way that he relaxed into the embrace, the way the wrinkled worry lines disappeared from his brow, and the way his normally cold blue eyes turned endearing at the mention of the woman in his arms.

And as for the woman… well, if the loud pounding of her heart was not enough indication, maybe the tell-tale pink blush on her face would be: possibly even the way she smiled shyly into her friend's chest as she embraced him tenderly? What could this feeling be? Oh, if only she weren't so naïve: she'd see that this friendship was meant to be so much more… and she was already feeling the affects. It was obvious that she liked him a bit more than a friend would, in average, but if only…

"_Thank you…"_ she whispered, and suddenly the world seemed a little bit nicer.

_**#~#~#**_

"Nice job," Hungary permitted, standing a little ways away from the door leading to the music room, which was wide open to reveal the two love birds inside.

"It was nothing." The Austrian man commented nonchalantly, snapping the latches on his violin case closed. "Truly, Holy Roman Empire's playing was the centerpiece. I just figured he could use a little push." He nodded, grabbing the case and standing up. Hungary giggled.

"Oh please. Don't pretend that you don't care." She smirked a little, bobbing her head towards the two embracing on the piano bench. Austria gazed calmly through his glasses and adjusted his neck kerchief.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he huffed and walked away. Hungary rolled her eyes but grinned, sparing one last glance toward the almost-couple and giggling.

_**#~#~#**_

The plane ride home was, bluntly put, uneventful. Boring and heart-wrenching, seeing as she was leaving her family-like friends and someone whom she loved dearly, even if she did not realize it completely. But, there was one incedent…

"_Thank you for everything," Kagome flashed a watery smile, tears already dripping down her flushed cheeks. "I promise I'll visit, and I'll send you gifts from Japan, and I'll write to you all the time, you can even email me or call me, and-" She broke into sniffles and Hungary ran forward and grabbed her in a hug, a tear dripping down her face as well._

"_Don't worry dear! We'll see each other all the time, I'll make sure of that. We'll see each other at the world summits and other meetings, and I'll even hire you again if I have to!" Hungary laughed, and so did Kagome._

_She was passed over to Austria, to whom she leaned up and poked his curl. He sort of twitched, making her laugh._

"_I'm sorry, I just have wanted to do that for a while now," she giggled and Austria rolled his eyes, blushing. She hugged him tightly and he sighed, but returned the gesture with a sweet smile. He kissed her on the forehead and blushed an impossible shade of red._

"_J-just take care of yourself, manage your money well, and don't waste a single thing." He mumbled, stuttering, and she giggled._

"_Thanks~"_

_Finally, she was set in front of Holy Rome, who was looking away dejectedly. She smiled sadly and tilted her head, trying to lean into his line of view._

"_Hey, Holy Rome," she spoke gently, trying to get his attention. He glanced toward her and quickly looked away, shoving his hands in his pockets with an angry huff. Kagome sighed and looked to the ground, a little disappointed, but she did not notice the tears pricking the corners of his eyes._

_Kagome glanced back at him again and shrugged to herself. Slowly, she leaned up and placed a sweet, chaste kiss on his cheek and then pulled away, her face an adorable shade of pink._

"_Goodbye, Holy Rome…" she trailed uneasily, looking toward the two European nations for some relief for the awkward atmosphere, but they just shook their heads. _

_Sighing, Kagome picked up her bags and suitcase and made her way over to the terminal, her foot barely inside, when-_

"_Wait! Kagome-!" And suddenly she was enveloped from a hug from behind. She blushed and wobbled, since her foot was not yet on the ground, but the arms embracing her from behind held her steady._

"_Not goodbye," Holy Rome whispered in her ear, making her blush an even deeper shade, "not goodbye. We'll see each other again… I promise." He mumbled and let her go, even slightly pushing her inside the terminal gate. Kagome turned around and smiled, her face still a delightful pink._

"_Not goodbye." She giggled, stepping backwards into the terminal. "So… I'll see you, Shinsei Roma~" she laughed gleefully and waved one last time to her family-of-sorts, then practically skipped into the plane. _

Kagome smiled and stared dreamily out the window, imagining what it would be like to be back home again. Her heart fluttered oddly at this, but she ignored it in favor of imagining the looks on everyone's face when she arrived back in a private Austrian jet.

Italy would be tearing up and his eyes would open for once… America would be flipping out, way too excited for his own good… Japan would tear up, and his eyes would light up with rare emotion… Germany would gape in shock…

Suddenly, Germany's imaginary shocked, sky-blue irises were replaced with sparkling aquamarine eyes filled with compassion and stubbornness. His slicked-black hair was suddenly covered by a familiar black hat and his open mouth turned into a gentle smile…

Kagome shook her head, willing away her thoughts and the sudden blood rush from her heart. She tried focusing on her family back in the other parts of Europe, but her thoughts always wandered back toward her starry blue-eyed friend… back where her heart had seemingly decided was home.

**#~#~#**

**Where Is Home**

**#~#~#**

MCD: _HEERRPP *has a heart attack* _God, I sit here for months- _months!-_, dying of all the sicknesses winter can offer, constantly falling asleep after a few brutal hours of track and field, and randomly scrolling through the interwebz, feeling guilty about all of my unupdated stories, when suddenly- BAM! Inspiraion hits me like a falling rock and suddenly this is finished in two days. Also, apparently Sarah Mc glawkalawkin does not exist in this fic... because I stole her song.

…sometimes I just wanna smack the little voice in my head. DERP

Anyway, the good news is that I came first place in shotput at 24 ft, 8 in, 2nd in 100-meter dash, and third in discus, at 50 feet even. Also, I am in the process of writing the next chapter for Breaking Barriers and When In Cuba, so hopefully I'll have those up soon. Aikiowah said that she's almost finished with most of her fanart and that she might be posting them soon on her DA account; I'll post the links on my profile once she puts them up. Once again, HI BRIGHTPAW~! Hmmm… anything else? I don't think so, besides more profuse apologies for the wait, but I hope that the length is enough to compensate.

**PLEASE READ THIS PART -**And… I find myself sad to say this… but the next chapter is the last. I mean, I'll probably end up posting an epilogue, and I'm apparently making a sequel upon a very specific request of one of my reviewers (with babies. They shall have babies. Which I intend to name Miroku and Sango and Shippo… or maybe I'll become creative in that short span of time :D)

And well, that's it, except for the side notes:

**[1]** HA! Roderich!_? _yeah, sure! I can't imagine him saying that, not in a million years… but it's so hilarious to make him do it anyway XD

**[2] **The taiko is a type of traditional Japanese drum. God, they're so much fun to play! I mean, it's hard to get the stance down and remember the songs, because we don't use music sheets, but it's sooo much fun when you get used to it! {Japan also uses a taiko in the movie, APH: Paint It White, near the end. I've got Wa Wa World Ondo on my laptop and I've been practicing it!} And the didgeridoo is an Australian instrument… I'm not really sure how to describe it, other than the noise that it makes is sorta like WOWWWOWWWOOW XD and it's often used in movie scenes that take place in the desert, to sorta embody the sound of heat waves.

…I'm such a nerd XD I love you though, Crockadile Dundee~

Why are my author's notes long than the friggin story!_?_ Well, G'night, everyone! Have a happy spring break~!


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